I was checked into a hospital, a routine as normal and boring to me now, part of my never ending bout with my medical conditions I call “that thing that shall not be named”.

 
This routine I do at least once a year, sometimes up to three. When I do suffer from extreme flare-ups, they sometimes do not want to just prescribe the usual medications, they wanted me to get checked for complications, hence the going back to barracks.
 
However hard I try to tell them that “Yeah, just pump me up with those usual steroids, and give me more of those addictive painkillers and I’ll be on my way,” they would still want me to check myself into a hospital. Even though that’s the very same thing they will do anyway.
 
I was thinking, yeah right, they just wanted to pump my bills up. Utang na naman.
 
Anyway, I got checked in on Dec. 12, 2015. I was drugged for two days, barely recognizing if I’m awake or merely dreaming. By the third day, I was better but still in bed. I was still drugged but annoyingly bored.
 
Coincidentally, a Typhoon was raging in Mindoro since the night before. When I logged into my Naujenos FB page, it already had hundreds of messages ranging from inquiries, questions and favors. All were concerning statuses of their kamaganaks in Naujan. I myself had lots of relatives back in Naujan, so naturally I was worried too. I tried to call my other sisters here in the U.S but they too can’t get hold of anybody in Naujan.
 
But all those concerns and fears from most Naujenos who were not in Naujan is magnified day after day after day. Power was out. All communications were down. And nothing can be found online. Lahat nag-aalala kung ano nangyayari sa kanila sa Naujan. Karamihan nagmamakaawa ng impormasyon. I thought to myself, “How can I answer these inquiries? How can I help gather and forward information? Eh ako mismo, wala naman sa Naujan?”
 
So I decided, kahit nasa ospital ako, I still can help with the way I knew how.
 
Armed with my small iPad, I dugged the internet for real time information. For two consecutive days, I searched online, all social media sites, and government sources for information. And to consolidate and disseminate the information I found along the way, I created the Batang Naujan Group.
 
While I was able to get information from other sources, the very first peek at Naujan was made thru the photos posted by Ronald Basa. That was roughly four days after the storm had passed.
 
Having seen how Typhoon Nona deeply devastated our town, I immediately contacted my dear friend and classmate Atty. Rene Catly, who is based in Calapan on how we can help. Rene started mobilizing people on the ground while Catherine Garing Canete who is now based in Texas and I started mobilizing funds. I also contacted my sister Cora Delgado and classmate Ghaye Adarlo on how we can facilitate help.
 
You might say the rest is history. But I must say no, because our lessons learned during and after this typhoon will force us to keep on making it.
 
With the help of members and friends of the Batang Naujan Group, we started the #BangonNaujan Fund Drive and had raised funds for immediate relief of our kababayans. We were able to raise more than 100 Thousand Pesos. While it is not as big comparative to big organized groups overseas, Batang Naujan was able to help a total of 428 Families for immediate relief. Five families were given cash assistance to help them rebuild homes. Plans were still in the works to provide solar lamps.
 
We have questioned the seemingly politicking gestures inside the Municipal Council in times of calamity. And the attitudes of our Sangguniang Bayan officers on their seemingly don’t care attitude and utter disregard for public accountability and transparency when they fail to accommodate repeated requests for public information.
 
We were able to communicate and coordinate with OMASC on how to facilitate help to local schools who need to rebuild classrooms.
 
We were able to gather and provide information to Naujenos who are currently out of Naujan who desperately needed it.
 
And most importantly, we were able to gather and organize ourselves, in a single group, acting in the interests of our kababayans and our hometown whether we are in Naujan or not.
 
This recent typhoon had devastated our town and our people. But not our love for it. We were and we are Batang Naujans..
 
And yes, we are not yet done.