Google People Finder for Typhoon Yolanda

Google has put technology into good use with its offering of the Google Person Finder.  The Google People Finder for Typhoon Yolanda portal is now in operation and ready to accept requests for missing persons as well as information on found ones.

In the wake of the devastating Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), many areas in the Visayas region in central Philippines were badly hit.   Communication and power lines went down, with airports, roads and major infrastructure damaged.  This makes it harder for rescue operations and humanitarian relief efforts to reach the affected communities.

What is even worse is that with the lack of access to the affected locations, there is also a blackout of any valid and concrete news about the status and whereabouts of citizens living in these areas.  What little news that trickles in  involves the increasing count of dead bodies found.  Such news further elevate the anxiety of fellow Filipinos and especially of relatives living in other areas in the Philippines and other parts of the world.

With Google Person Finder for Typhoon Yolanda, everyone who has online access can now post and search about the status updates of relatives, friends or acquaintances who may be affected by the calamity.  When not in the database, the web program will add the name of the missing person to the database.

Last November 9, the total records in the database related to Typhoon Yolanda was at 200, but as of this writing, the total number of persons tracked is at 4,700 and increasing.

The Google Person Finder is an initiative of the Google Crisis Response division of Google.org

Click on this link to access Google People Finder for Typhoon Yolanda.

This service is also available via SMS.  You can request for the status of the person by texting: Search person-name to 2662999 (for Globe subscribers) and +16508003977.

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How to be Part of Relief Efforts for Typhoon Yolanda Victims

The aftermath of the greatest typhoon in history (Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan), as seen in pictures, videos and reports coming in from social media and the news, are truly saddening.  Many areas in central Philippines, mostly the island-provinces in the Visayas region, suffer from damages to lives and infrastructure.

But in tragedy comes solidarity.  Filipinos are known for resiliency and the "bayanihan" spirit.  Grief need not be a hindrance to giving.  That is why barely had Typhoon Yolanda left the country, and rescue and relief operations are already underway from all sectors of the society -- government, non-government, humanitarian and private organizations.

Volunteers packing relief goods at the DSWD headquarters for distribution

to Typhoon Yolanda victims. (Photo credit: Reuters)

 
By monitoring social media like Twitter and Facebook, and the web in general, here are some of the relief organizations who have already mounted relief operations for Typhoon Yolanda victims.

You can do your share by donating funds, clothes, food, and your time to these organizations.

If you know more organizations with relief operations for Typhoon Yolanda victims, please inform us so we can add them to the list.

A word of caution to good-hearted donors:  It is a reality that there are, sadly, many fly-by-night scamming entities that will stop at nothing to exploit calamities such as these for their personal gain.  Please be careful in sending your donations by knowing the organization well .  Donate only to organizations that you are absolutely sure will send your money and resources to the victims, and not have your aid end up in their own pockets.



List of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) Relief Organizations

GlobalGiving

Gawad Kalinga

Philippine Red Cross

Citizens' Disaster Response Center (CDRC)

ABS-CBN Foundation Sagip-Kapamilya

GMA Kapuso Foundation

Salvation Army

Save the Children Federation

 

More ways to help:

Globe mobile phone users can donate the following amounts (5, 25, 50, 100, 300, 500, 1000) via the Philippine RED CROSS by texting: RED <amount> to 2899

Smart mobile phone users can donate the following amounts (10, 25, 50, 100, 300, 500 or 1000)  via the Philippine RED CROSS by texting: RED <amount> to 4143

The Philippine Daily Inquirer is now accepting cash donations which may be deposited to the Inquirer Help Fund at their following bank accounts:

• Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) current account No. 4951-0067-56, under the name Philippine Daily Inquirer Inc.
• Metrobank current account No. 7286-8109-30, also under the name of Philippine Daily Inquirer Inc.

Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based international network of Catholic aid agencies, is accepting donations on its website for Typhoon Yolanda victims as part of relief operations.

Catholic Relief Services, also a Caritas network member in the United States, has activated relief operations for the typhoon victims.  Click on the donate button on their website.

Caritas Philippines is open for donations from Filipinos based in the Philippines.

You can also go directly to or contact DSWD if you want to volunteer in repacking family packs for typhoon victims.  Repacking of goods is at DSWD-NROC, Chapel Road (at the back of Air Transportation Office) Pasay City. You can call 8512681 for schedule of repacking.

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Why is the Philippines so Prone to Typhoons?

As Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) devastates the Visayan islands in central Philippines, creating a path of absolute destruction along the way, one can't help but wonder:  why is the Philippines prone to typhoons?

It is all about location, location, location.  The very same geographic location that provides tourist-friendly tropical weather all year round (sunny at the half of the year from December to May and rainy at the other half between June to November), makes the country prone to typhoons.

The Philippines has the Pacific Ocean for its neighbor.  The Pacific Ocean is a wide expanse of typhoon generator.  When the ocean's surface temperature is warm enough, and atmospheric conditions over the ocean are unstable enough, tropical cyclones or typhoons are likely to develop.  Add several more factors to the mix:  increased humidity, gravitational forces, and wind movement, the result is a force to reckon with.  A whirling, rotating, howling force hell-bent on destruction.

The Philippines receives the full brunt of typhoon formation every year, although other countries nearby such as Japan and China get their share as well.  Nearly thirty percent (30%) of the annual rainfall in the northern areas of the Philippines comes from these Pacific-birthed typhoons alone.

This visible image of Super Typhoon Haiyan approaching
the Philippines was taken from the MODIS instrument
aboard NASA's Aqua satellite on Nov. 7, 2013 at
04:25 UTC/Nov. 6 at 11:25 p.m. EDT.

Image Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is the country's official weather bureau.  It is in-charge of monitoring storm, typhoons and other weather disturbances in the country.  PAGASA releases tropical cyclone warnings in the form of Public Storm Warning Signals. The following are the storm warning signals:

• PSWS #1 - Tropical cyclone winds of 30 km/h (19 mph) to 60 km/h (37 mph) are expected within the next 36 hours.
• PSWS #2 - Tropical cyclone winds of 60 km/h (37 mph) to 100 km/h (62 mph) are expected within the next 24 hours.
• PSWS #3 - Tropical cyclone winds of 100 km/h (62 mph) to 185 km/h (115 mph) are expected within the next 18 hours.
• PSWS #4 - Tropical cyclone winds of greater than 185 km/h (115 mph) are expected within 12 hours.

Below is a list of the most destructive typhoons in Philippine history:

Most Destructive Philippine Typhoons in History
Rank	Names	Dates of impact	PHP	USD
1	Bopha, (Pablo)	December 2 -9, 2012	42.2 billion	1.04 billion
2	Parma, (Pepeng)	October 2–10, 2009	27.3 billion	608 million
3	Nesat, (Pedring)	September 26–28, 2011	15 billion	333 million
4	Fengshen, (Frank)	June 20 -23, 2008	13.5 billion	301 million
5	Ketsana, (Ondoy)	September 25 -27, 2009	11 billion	244 million
6	Mike, (Ruping)	November 10 - 14, 1990	10.8 billion	241 million
7	Angela, (Rosing)	October 30 - November 4, 1995	10.8 billion	241 million
8	Flo, (Kadiang)	October 2 - October 6, 1993	8.75 billion	195 million
9	Megi (Juan)	October 18 - October 21, 2010	8.32 billion	193 million
10	Babs, (Loleng)	October 20 - 23 1998	6.79 billion	151 million

 Source:  Wikipedia

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Historic Cemeteries in the Philippines

Here's one for history buffs and tourists.  Cemeteries not only hold the dear departed's remains in peaceful protective slumber, some cemeteries actually hold parts of Philippine history!

If you take a stroll through some of the cemeteries listed below, you will gain important lessons in the nation's interesting history.

1.  Paco Park Cemetery

Now a well-tended recreational area, Paco Park was once called Cementerio General de Dilao or Cementerio General de Paco.  During the time when the Philippines was still a colony of Spain, Paco Park Cemetery was Manila's municipal grave site.  Built in the late 18th century, many of Manila's wealthy residents were buried here, until 1822 when it was used as a mass burial site for cholera epidemic victims.

After his execution at Bagumbayan, National Hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal was buried at Paco Park, until his remains were later moved to its current location at the Rizal Monument.

Paco Park is also the burial site of  the three Filipino priests Jose Burgos, Mario Gomez and Jacinto Zamora, who were accused of mutiny and rebellion in Cavite in 1872, and were eventually executed by the Spanish colonial government.

In 1912, Paco Park ceased becoming a burial ground, and eventually turned into a beautiful garden and recreational area for Manila residents.

Dr. Jose P Rizal was initially interred at Paco Park cemetery after his execution.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2.  La Loma Cemetery

Cementerio General de La Loma began receiving interments in 1884.  It is the oldest cemetery in the city.  It earned a spot in Philippine history because during Spanish colonial times, Filipinos who rebelled against the Spanish authorities were banned from being buried in La Loma.  Being denied burial in holy grounds such as cemeteries was considered a grievous misfortune in the Spain-catholicized country back then.

La Loma cemetery survived destruction in 1945 during World War II.  The historic Battle of Manila laid most of the city's structures in ruin, but the cemetery remained intact, preserving its historical and architectural value.

St. Pancratius Chapel in La Loma Cemetery
(Photo credit: Spot.ph)

3.  Manila North Cemetery

The Manila North Cemetery is one of the biggest and oldest grave sites in the city.  It was known as the Cementerio del Norte during the 19th century under Spanish colonial rule. 

The cemetery was and still is the burial grounds of many prominent figures in the nation's historical landscape.  María Agoncillo-Aguinaldo, the wife of the first Philippine President Emilio Aguionaldo, was originally interred here. The mother of the Katipunan, Melchora Aquino or Tandang Sora, used to rest here.  Emilio Jacinto, Marcelo del Pilar, and many Filipino heroes were once buried at the same cemetery.  Several Philippine Presidents, senators, artists, and the most famous showbiz personality in Philippine cinema -- Fernando Poe Jr. -- are in this cemetery.

Mausoleo de los Veteranos de la Revolución, Manila North Cemetery
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

4.  Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery

The underground cemetery in the town of Nagcarlan at the province of Laguna is the only underground cemetery in the country.  It served as the secret meeting place of Filipino Katipuneros after it was built in 1851.  Because of this part in history, the cemetery has been deemed a National Historical Landmark. 

Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The cemetery is a favorite tourist stopover nowadays, because of the detailed architecture of the burial grounds, the church and the crypts underneath.

Underground crypts at the Nagcarlan Cemetery

5.  Camiguin Sunken Cemetery

The Sunken Cemetery in Catarman, Camiguin is so-called because there was once a large burial site in this community.  When the island volcano, Mount Vulcan, erupted in 1871, the cemetery together with portions of the town sank 20 feet below sea level.  What was left of the cemetery was marked by a large cross that can be seen in the water from the shores of nearby Barrio Bonbon.

Cross marker at the Camiguin Sunken Cemetery
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

6.  Sagada Hanging Coffins

Journey back to the Philippines' pre-colonial period with the hanging coffins at Sagada in the Mountain Province.  This place is not the traditional cemetery that can be found everywhere else in the country.  The hanging coffins are literally coffins hanging on the cliffs of Echo Valley.

It was the burial custom of pre-colonial Igorots, the ethnic dwellers of Sagada,  to carve their coffins from hollowed pine trees, and place these coffins on ledges in the cliffs.  They placed their dead on cliffs because they believed that the higher the coffins were located here on earth, the closer the dead were to heaven. 

Some of the hanging coffins in Sagada
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many of the islands of the Philippines hold their own interesting culture and traditions.  Burial rituals and therefore cemeteries are part of this rich heritage.  Wherever you happen to be in the Philippines, try visiting the community cemetery and discover more of the country through the way they Filipinos  their dead.

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Earthquake Insurance in the Philippines -- or the Lack of It

The earth can turn violent once in a while.  It is a living breathing planet, after all.  Proof of that was the recent earthquake that hit the island provinces of Bohol and Cebu in the Philippines.  The ground shook suddenly and so violently that many people died and a lot of buildings and infrastructures collapsed with major damage.

A  house fell into a river after the earthquake in Bohol.
(REUTERS/Erik De Castro)

While natural disasters like earthquakes are rare, the financial impact can be devastating to its victims.  For businesses, damage to buildings and properties can put a big hole in the business' capital, since rebuilding the structures can be expensive and takes time.  The financial aftermath may even endanger the business' survival.

For homeowners who are victims of earthquakes, the loss of residence is a natural disaster in itself, since the cost to repair the damages or rebuild the house can be as financially devastating as the earthquake itself.

The Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) recently said that a very few percentage of buildings and properties in the country have earthquake risk cover.

Earthquake cover is only a part of the fire insurance policy, and it is by default excluded from the standard fire policy.  It is the option of the client to either leave the earthquake insurance cover out of the policy, or buy back the risk cover.

Because it is not mandatory to purchase earthquake insurance, industry reports estimate that only 12% of the country's structures are covered by fire insurance policies.  And out of this, only 20% have earthquake insurance enabled.  In a country that sits on many active seismic faults and trenches, this is courting disaster, indeed!

There's some hope at the end of the tunnel, however.  Just this year, the Asian Development Bank initiated the project study on Structuring a Public-Private Earthquake Insurance Pool in the Philippines which aims to develop a catastrophe insurance pool that will cover small- and mid-sized enterprise property owners.

PIRA is currently coordinating with ADB and the nation's lawmakers to craft a bill that will make earthquake insurance mandatory for residential, small- and medium-sized enterprises.  When this bill becomes a reality, property owners in the Philippines will be less vulnerable to financial damage brought by this natural disaster.

But while a mandatory earthquake insurance legislation has not yet materialized, it is up to the property owners to buy a risk cover against earthquakes and include this in their standard fire insurance policy.  Admittedly, it is an additional cost,with a low probability of being applied.  But the recent earthquake in Bohol and Cebu teaches a lesson in preparedness against the potential risk.

As a property owner, if you are deliberating on whether or not to buy earthquake insurance, the following factors can help you decide to finally buy one:

• If you live in a high-risk, earthquake-prone area
• If you have calculated the cost to repair or rebuild, and it is more than your resources can cover in the event of an actual earthquake
• If your property is not properly fortified against sudden earth tremors and seismic activities

Keep safe everyone!

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Houses You Would Want to Live In... or Not!

"I guess when you turn off the main road, you have to be prepared to see some funny houses."

                                                                                                                     - Stephen King


I recently went on a research rampage, curious about houses that people build in all parts of the world.   I guess a part of me was just tired of looking at my own house, my neighbors' houses, the houses I pass by everyday in my town, and houses in this part of the world in general.

Made of the same materials, of nearly the same design, and within the same environment, houses in the same general area tend to look similar to each other.   I was looking for houses that are really unique, and those that would tickle my imagination.

What I found were exciting houses.  Their builders must be crazy to even think of constructing these houses.  And the owners who live here, well, they must be some kind of cool!


Earth-Sheltered Hobbit Houses

The good Earth is used as walls  to keep the indoor air temperature stable. These houses look cozy.  And all that green!  I wonder if you have to trim the lawn in your roof occasionally?

 A real hobbit house in Wales. This house looks like it stepped out of the pages of the popular books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.  With round doors, round windows, round roofs, and barely any straight lines anywhere, living in this house would really make you feel that you are in the Shire.



Shoe Houses

Scholars are still at a loss how to explain the meaning of the English nursery rhyme that starts with:

"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe..."

The world today is also at a loss why anyone would want to live in shoe-shaped houses.


Mountaintop Houses

Houses built on top of mountains must make the homeowners feel like they are on top of the world, looking down on creation, and the only explanation they can find... is the love that... oops, got carried away!

The view from mountaintop houses is spectacular, the mountain air is fresh.  Living there must be the closest to heaven on earth.  But the climb down to buy groceries and up again must be hell.



Island Houses

If you are looking for isolation, this house is perfect for you.  It brings the feeling of being "shipwrecked" or stranded in an island to the highest level.  You can just jump from your window when you want to take a dip at the waiting sea.

Water, water everywhere!  I wonder if it's fish for breakfast, fish for lunch and fish for dinner at this location.  But the view is breathtaking!

A post-card perfect house!  But what happens if it rains, and the water levels rises higher? Scary!


Gravity-defying Houses

This farm house in Ukraine looks oddly like it is floating, because a single cantilever anchors it to the ground.  There is no method to the madness here, except maybe the theory that alien architects designed this place.

Living in one of the apartments here in Habitat 67 in Montreal is like living in a Lego block.   You are stacked with your neighbors, but at least each apartment has its own patio, if that's any consolation.

Tree Houses

This tree house in Indonesia takes the concept to the highest level.  It's not built in the tree, but on top of it.  The view of the forest canopy is awesome, but it must be a long climb to the top.

This tree house can accommodate the whole town!  If I were to imagine the Elves' dwelling place in Lothlorien, one of the places in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy, it would be something like this.

This tree house did not harm a single tree in its construction.


Underground/Cave Houses

This well-designed underground house is barely visible to casual observers, blending so skillfully with the surroundings.  The house offers very little disruption to the surrounding wildlife and landscape.

The submerged structures all make up a Swiss estate.  The clever design of the house is weather-proof and provides good insulation.

When you have money to burn and love the environment, you do what British football star Gary Neville did:  try to build a low-impact underground house that will consume very little energy.  That's the reason for the petal-shaped openings in the house: allow sunlight to come in for lesser energy spending. 


Hanging Houses

 

I suppose there is a certain charm to living precariously.

Or living life on edge.



Upside-Down Houses

Upside-down houses really escapes the laws of logic.  But the study in architectural balance is greatly appreciated here.  The house above one looks actually pretty, in a strange upside-down sort of way.

Upside down houses are, at the very least, great conversation  pieces.  The ohs and ahs must be numerous when you throw a party here.  If you don't mind getting weird looks from your neighbors first.

Upside down houses MUST exist for some reason.  This one, believe it or not, is as a form of socio-political protest during Poland's Communist Era. 


That was quite a fun ride, jumping from house to house, each house with its own unique kind of style and a distinct kind of crazy.  After searching those houses for days, I'm quite exhausted, as if I actually went and inspected each one of them.  And I have come to a singular conclusion after house-hunting online:  the best house ever, no matter the size, the location, the design, is where one's heart truly is.  With family and people you love.  Without them, you may as well be living in the dumpster.

(Photo credit: Google images)

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Where is the Followers Gadget in Blogger?

For those of you who are used to publishing your blogs through Google's Blogger platform, you may be familiar with that nifty little gadget known as the Followers gadget.  This gadget displays the list of users that love to follow your blog posts.  What's more, it allows blog readers to choose to become followers and add themselves to your followers' list.

Well, following Google's spring cleaning in 2011, and to push more of its Google+ packages, many of the Google Friend Connect services have been retired.  This includes the Followers gadget in Blogger, which Google recommends to be replaced with Google+ Followers gadget.


If you'd still like to use the old Followers gadget, fear not.  Here's how:

1. Access your Blogger Dashboard.  Go to Layout, and in the place where you want the gadget to appear, click on Add a Gadget.
2. Locate the HTML/Javascript gadget and click on the plus (+) icon to add it.
3. In the next window that pops up, copy the link that appears in the address box.  Close the window after you have copied the link.
4. Edit the link in a text editor like Notepad.  Replace the text 'widgetType=HTML' with  'widgetType=Followers', careful not to change anything else in the text.
5. Open a new window in your browser and paste the modified link into the address box.  Click Enter to add the Followers gadget successfully to your blog.

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Hello, Environment!

Kids will be kids, and they often ask questions that leave adults stumped. While watching a rerun of Wall-E not so recently, they expectedly stayed glued to the screen all throughout the movie, laughed at the funny antics of the characters, and jumped up and down  in delight at every good part. They enjoyed it immensely and at the end of it, asked this question: "Why did the Earth become like that, you know, like, all covered in garbage?"

I was nonplussed, needless to say. Wall-E was just another animated movie for children. It's an offering from Pixar about a robot that inhabited the Earth after it was covered in tons of garbage and man no longer lives in it.  The location in the movie is a future Earth that is not a good environment for children.  The movie had all the goods -- good graphics animation, great characters, fascinating dialogues, and a very interesting plot -- but it had something more: a message to kids about the perils of not taking care of the planet.  And more than that, it also carried a warning to parents that, if we don't take care of it ourselves today, there won't be much of an environment for children in the future.

I did quick parent duty and answered the question as best as I could, but at the back of my mind something nagged. Fact: children nowadays are TV-bound but are still clearly analytical. Fact: the world they live in now is a far cry from the world we parents knew when we were still children. Fact: We parents should really do something about it.

So when two other movies made it through our rerun agenda -- Madagascar and The Wild -- and both of them about the environment too, it's time to hit the trails and have a little meet-and-greet with nature.

With a promise to show them a little bit of the "wilds" that Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe encountered in the island of Madagascar, we took off to nearby Mount Makiling. 

Wearing jogging pants and sturdy rubber shoes, we drove past the entrance to the National Arts Center and took the road going towards the Pook ni Mariang Makiling site. We left our vehicle at the entrance to the Jamboree site camp grounds and began walking.  Beyond is the waiting environment for children to explore.

The lush rainforest enclosed us immediately. The silence was deafening but pleasant, broken only by the wind rustling through tree leaves and the excited chatter of our children. Ohs, and ahs, and wows!  As if in welcome, the trees stood proudly, gigantic and conveying their antiquity -- regal beings in this environment for children to marvel upon.  And the children were indeed appropriately awed. They haven't seen the likes of such vast works of nature until then.

It seemed Mother Nature had prepared an extravagant show of the environment for children to enjoy.  We saw a lot of unique plants, strange rocks, and interesting structures as we continued our unhurried walk. There were tiny streams of water running through cracks on the earth. The children saw large spider webs and started at the sound of birds and crickets chirping nearby. They were disappointed not to meet a single lion, however, despite explaining to them that no lion lives in this mountain. 

It was a pleasant sojourn. Everything was new to them, but they took to it like ducks to water. We did not preach about the environment (they were too young for it), but instead just allowed them to soak it in, to be in communion with nature by themselves, and allow them to process the experiences they had that afternoon on their own.  

We picked that site for its relative safety particularly to children. It was still part of the Makiling Forest Reserve and very close to "civilization". Yet it has all the elements for a quick study of the environment -- a perfect environment for children.

As long as we feel a wave of pity for children who may no longer have the privilege to experience many of nature's gifts -- walk on rainforests, fish on pristine rivers, inhale fresh air and the like -- let us not stop bringing them closer to the environment.  For it may be gone before we know it.

But as long as we parents work on protecting our natural resources today, we are assured that there will certainly be an environment for children in the future.

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