February 20, 2007 – A few days back, our computer room was flooded with water not because of a typhoon but because of a tent with a roof filled with rainwater. The metal support holding the tent up broke, making it fell to one side and unfortunately the side where it collapses was our computer room.
I believe the tent was owned by the Barangay Chairman of Brgy. 3-D (Dapdapan).
Rainwater from the tent’s roof entered our window and flooded our computer room. My HP DeskJet Printer which was right under the window was soaked in rainwater. Even my personal computer didn’t escape the rushing rainwater that was gushing in from the window. Our 2 AVRs were also submerged in rainwater. An electrical socket was also submerged, we were very thankful that none of us got electrocuted.
We spent the rest of the day cleaning up the room. I detached my computer and had it inspected for damage but it had water in it so I had to dry it first as well as the 2 AVRs and Printer. Now, drying the printer was tricky since I can’t open it. I don’t have the tool needed to open it. So, after trying to open it for a while I finally gave up and asked my wife to bring the printer to a shop for possible repairs.
We moved everything that was affected out while my father-in-law sweeps the water out of the room and after a few hours we moved everything back in. I sent the 2 AVRs to an electronics technician for checking and I was glad both AVRs were okay. I hooked up my computer and after a few hours it began resetting. I spent the rest of the day and the next day troubleshooting my computer and the result was a defective RAM. My video card’s fan also stopped spinning. It seems that water made the dust inside the fan tough. I had my nephew brought the vc fan to someone with a cleaner and lubricant. When it was returned, the fan was again spinning nicely. The printer was a different story, my wife brought the printer to MSC Service Center and the technician told her that a certain board inside the printer had failed and the cost of repairing or replacing it is almost the same as the cost of a new printer. Since we need a printer for an ongoing project/work, we had no choice but to buy a new one.
The day the incident happened, we asked Barangay Officials to please take the tent down since it was already busted and might cause another flooding on our end if it started to rain again. No, they did not take it down, saying that we need to talk to the Barangay Chairman but the Brgy. Chairman is rarely there and in the absence of the Brgy. Chairman, a Brgy. Councilor should make a decision especially when damage to property had already occurred. These so called servants of the public had no initiative, not an ounce of initiative. They insisted on waiting for the Brgy. Chairman.
The next day after the incident, my wife asked our nearby neighbors if we should ask some assistance from the Barangay especially from the Barangay Chairman since it was his tent that caused the incident that damaged and eventually broke some of our equipments. They all advised her to try. It’s not as if, we can’t buy or replace the things that were damaged. In fact we already had replaced them. Any help the Barangay or the Barangay Chairman can provide will be greatly appreciated. So my wife, tried to directly approach and talk to the Brgy. Chairman but she can’t seem to catch him, not at home and not at the Brgy. Office. It took her 2 days to finally caught and eventually talked with the Brgy. Chairman and he instructed her to show him the items that were damaged.
On the same day, at noon, a Brgy. Councilor came over saying that he was instructed to see what has been damaged. Of course, he won’t see any damage anymore since we already cleaned everything up and I already got my computer working (barely). I will not wait 2 or 3 days for them before trying to fix everything and besides our asking for assistance is not a priority. We will gladly accept anything they can provide.
I personally dislike this Brgy. Councilor (I forgot his name and I have no intent of remembering him either). He has this gift of twisting everything around and he even blames us for not reporting the incident immediately. At this point, I was no longer in the mood to talk to him. The day the incident happened, I was at our gate shouting at the people in the Barangay Hall that their tent flooded our computer room, I know a Brgy. Tanod and a Brgy. Staff was there. They know that their tent collapsed! They know that because of that our computer room was flooded with rain water! They know that some of my equipments got wet and were eventually damaged! They know all of these facts yet none of them came by to check on us and they were just across the street.
Then he gave this ‘act of nature’ reason and lectured on the use of proper filing of request and something about depreciation. MAN! We were only trying to ask for some help. If they can’t help us, fine, we will not force them. I’ve already replaced everything anyway.
According to my wife, the Brgy. Chairman told her that she should have talked to her Secretary first instead of going directly to him. WHAT?
We were just trying to ask their help and if they can’t help us then end of story, period. All they have to say was “Sorry, we can’t help you!” Helping should never be a matter of question. If you can help then help and if you can’t help then it’s more polite to just say you can’t. They don’t have to put the blame on us nor even try to escape any responsibility because we were not going to force them.
Anyway, I got my machines running back to normal. I bought a new HP DeskJet Printer and a new 512mb RAM. I also told my wife to not bother with the request for assistance or help anymore. I wouldn’t force anybody to help. Help should be provided sincerely and not forcibly.
(BTW: We are not rich, I have to work extra to compensate for what we unexpectedly spent this week.)
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