Thanks to Typhoon Ondoy, the Philippines just experienced what some are calling the country's worst flood in 20 years. I've never seen anything like it, and I hope I never do again.

I have to consider myself very lucky though. The worst that happened to me was getting stranded in traffic for a few hours, which is peanuts compared to the plight of those who had to clamber onto their rooftops to wait for rescue boats that never came. Rescue personnel were trying the best that they could with limited resources, so we can't blame them, but here's a big "fuck you" to the government officials who spent our tax money on useless thing like infomercials instead of, I don't know, rubber boats?

The one lesson I took away from all of this is that we can't count on our corrupt and incompetent government to help us--we have to help each other.

So let's help.

See Google's Typhoon Ondoy page for ways to do so, including donation via SMS and PayPal. If you live in Metro Manila, scroll down to the end of the Google page to find a list of places where you can drop off relief goods. I suggest donating useful items like:

- Bottled water
- Canned goods, biscuits, and other food that don't require cooking
- Old clothes
- Blankets
- Flashlights

Give what you can. Every bit helps.