Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng were major party poopers. The main reasons being how they took lives, destroyed property, and rendered many people homeless and helpless.

Another reason, at least for me and the Cosmo.ph team, was how it almost rendered our October Online Hunk shoot almost impossible.

I was all set to shoot Cosmo’s October Online Hunk on September 28, Monday. The Friday before that, September 25, I made sure that everything was in place—I had ironed things out with the owner of the location, the model (John Cruz) had agreed to make the trip from Angeles to Manila for the shoot, and the stylist had already promised to pull out clothes the next day, September 26. I slept soundly Friday night, even as rains raged outside my bedroom window, not realizing that I would wake up the next day to turn on my TV and see horrifying shots of Manila submerged in gray, swirling floodwater.

I immediately texted Liz, the stylist, to make sure she was safe. If she had gotten stranded at some mall or, God forbid, swept away by the current because she had gone out to get some clothes for our shoot, I would never forgive myself.

When I didn’t receive a reply from her, I texted again a few hours later, but with still no reply. By then it was all over the news that Cainta was one of the areas badly struck by the typhoon. I suddenly remembered that Liz lives in Cainta. I panicked even more.

I tried calling Liz a dozen times over the weekend but couldn’t get through. When Sunday night came, Kristine, the photographer, texted me the dreaded news: Liz’s house was one of those submerged in the flood.

I had to cancel the shoot that very night, of course, just a few hours before it was supposed to take place. With October just a few days away at that time, my shoot for this month’s Cosmo Online Hunk was officially overdue.

I wanted to rant and rave about the forces of nature being mean to me, making me miss the deadlines I set for myself. But I mentally slapped myself for thinking that way at such a time. How dare I agonize about my work woes while so many people, even people I knew, were stuck on the rooftops of their houses, awaiting rescuers who took days to come? Instead, I put my worries aside, put together any personal belongings I could spare, and donated what I could to help others out.


I finally heard from Liz on September 30, Wednesday. After her weekend Ondoy horror, she said she was still willing to do the shoot! I was ecstatic. Everything was in place once again. I rescheduled the shoot for the following Saturday, October 3. I promised myself that I would get it done that day, by hook or by crook. Surely Ondoy would be well on his way out of the country by then... right?

But my trials were far from over. Come October 1, Thursday, two days before the shoot, the whole metro was panicking over news reports claiming that a super typhoon nicknamed “Pepeng,” supposedly strong enough to match notorious Hurricane Katrina’s might, was headed our typhoon-battered country's way. It was expected to make landfall on Saturday, October 3—the date I had set for my shoot, which I swore to myself was going to push through by hook or by crook. But with bulletins warning of “winds of 195 kilometers per hour near the center, and gustiness of up to 230 kph” … let’s just say I was in no position to tell it to back off while we did our little shoot.

On October 2, Friday, I kept praying that Pepeng would change his mind and dilly-dally off somewhere else. But the forces of nature just laughed in my face. Come Friday evening, rains lashed down hard, as if giving a mirthless teaser of things to come.

I obsessively watched news updates the entire Friday night. I kept texting Liz and Cats, our makeup artist, who were both panicking because of Pepeng’s imminent arrival, and with good reason. I hardly slept a wink that night.

When I woke up the next day, October 3, I turned on the TV once again, fearing the absolute worst. But apparently, the storm had made a little detour! It would not be hitting Metro Manila. Encouraged by the news, I took a shower, got dressed, and decided we would soldier on with this shoot come hell or high water.

When I left my building that morning to head to Seventy7 Cafe in Kamuning, the sky was gray, it was drizzling, and gusts of wind left me feeling cold. But it was hardly a wind of Katrina proportions. I got to the shoot location on time. So did everyone in my team. We had fun, we finished the shoot in record time, and best of all, we felt like we had cheated the odds and come out true winners.

But as we sighed in relief and patted ourselves on the back for a job well done, the victory felt kind of incomplete. For the many others who were not as fortunate to be safe and dry while the rains raged, the ordeal is far from over. Click here for ways to help them.

God forbid that another calamity thunders our way, but it’s better to be prepared in case another party pooper decides to pop in.

Related Blog Entries

• And Along Comes October
• My First 12 Months Of Cosmo
• Becoming A Facebook Fiend
• Fearless In Floods
• The Birth Of Cosmo.ph

Talk About This Article Here