Calamity brings out the best and worst of humanity. In the aftermath of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that changed Bohol’s course of history on Oct. 15, 2013, we have been experiencing no shortage of volunteers who have made themselves available round the clock in whatever charitable task being assigned to them. A journalist who visited the Bohol Cultural Center, which has been converted into a command center for all the relief and rescue operations of the Provincial Government of Bohol, wrote the following impression on the Boholanos’ amazing bayanihan spirit upon the writer’s visit of the center:

“Today I thought the stream of volunteers has subsided. It's been more than a week since Boholano lives were changed forever. But volunteers continue to multiply. You'd always see new helping hands, nameless faces, people you have never met and seen before. I don't know where they come from. They just converge inside BCC and offer their strength and time. Inside BCC you'd see scores of young boys and girls helping each other, lifting carton boxes, repacking relief goods, sorting out donated goods, doing all sorts of things without being told what to do next. I saw board member Abel Damalerio carrying boxes of canned goods. I saw an aging foreigner carrying a sack of rice. I saw a classmate at CanCare assisting everyone in lifting sacks of rice. I saw a synchronized gestures of love. I was taking pictures to document this mass movement of human compassion. Seeing these volunteers inside BCC and thinking of countless other volunteers scrambling to save other people's lives somewhere in a remote barangay in Loon or in an unknown purok in Sagbayan, I believe that Bohol would rise again...”

Bohol will rise again because this province is blessed with selfless individuals, generous souls, heroic hearts. But amid tales of sacrifice and patriotism we are also a witness to the brutality and cruelty of certain individuals. At the toppled Abatan River Bridge we are seeing enterprising individuals who cash in on the utter helplessness of commuters who just want to cross the other side of the world. Habal-habal drivers are charging P200 to P500 for short-distance trips. Boat paddlers are hijacking the pockets of ordinary residents who avail of their boat service. There are unconfirmed reports of hoarding of relief goods, politicized distribution of aid to earthquake survivors, and even unstoppable display of arrogance of some hot-tempered politicians. If it were true that some local officials are hoarding relief goods, then we dare say they are worse than the hardened criminals in Muntinlupa.

If it were true that political discrimination is pervasive in the distribution of relief goods, then we dare say that those who practice such an abominable act are worse than the cohorts of Janet Lim Napoles, the mastermind of the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam. And the ugliest report to digest was when the nation woke up and read the October 23, 2013 headline of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the country’s most respected national daily, which read “Bohol mayor drives out Red Cross team.” Details of the tiff between Red Cross and Maribojoc Mayor Leoncio Evasco Jr. sent a wrong signal to other donors who intend to help thousands of quake victims in our province and produced a bad picture of the Boholanos’ supposed amiable nature. In the coming days and weeks, we will be getting fresh stories that would inspire us and increase our faith in God. Nevertheless we also have to brace for the disdainful moments when we receive shocking revelations on the wickedness of humanity.