Nice day for merienda in the coffeeshop, accompanied by some lighthearted conversation.

There was neither falling rain nor searing afternoon heat to affect my mood nor that of my companion.

Things changed as soon as I got home, when I turned on the TV and there was nothing but bad news: 95 percent of houses in Southern Leyte destroyed. No water, no electricity, no food, no shelter in the gathering storm, nicknamed Tino.

The number of fatalities was changing every hour, starting with 40 in Liloan, Cebu; eventually the figures rose to 131 for the province. Ten were reported in Negros Oriental, with seven missing.

A family living under the bridge. Another family “wiped out,” buried alive in a landslide.

Water poured from the sky, the river was swollen. There was a count of 37 cadavers. Another report listed 50 dead animals.

Typhoon or no typhoon, days after Vince Dizon took his oath as secretary of DPWH, he confessed that he had “aged 10 years in 10 days.” For one, he admitted that “flood control structures are substandard,” comparing them with “ampao,” a biscuit-like sweet that’s crunchy on the outside but hollow inside.

Now, in the gathering storm named Tino, trees were felled and bridges cut in half, disjointed like Lego toys. Townsfolk used their boats for transport on broken roads. No ship set sail. No planes flew, except for a helicopter of the Air Force, which then went down in Agusan del Sur, killing all six PAF passengers. With no electricity, seven million people found themselves in the dark ages, circa 2025.

Meanwhile, the head of the Independent Commission on Infrastructures was shaking his head as he held up a placard: “What the world needs now is love.” A cynic would probably advise the good ex-Justice Andres Reyes to tell that to the marines, but it was nice of him to remind us that we are one and all capable of turning the other cheek.

In the season of the “habagat” (monsoon) let’s not be caught unawares. For those old enough to remember, tell the young ones how Yolanda and Ondoy nearly destroyed our happy-go-lucky nature. Then tell them, and tell them how, bending like the bamboo we sprung back, stronger than before.