The 1972 Great Flood of Luzon and 2012 Habagat has similar cause?

August 15, 2012

The 1972 Great Flood of Luzon and 2012 Habagat has similar cause?

Bagyo is the common word for tropical cyclones or mainly called typhoons in the Philippines, which actually came from the name of Baguio City when the said place was stormed on 1911 recording 46 inches of rainfall for 24 hours. PAGASA (which in English means Hope) or Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration is an institution studying, monitoring, forecasting and providing data and warnings about the future and present weather, flood, sea waves, meteorological, astronomical and climatic activities, and etc. Habagat is the Filipino term for South wind, while Amihan is for North wind.

Well, we're not discussing everything about storms in this country. So, let's proceed on the main topic - the urban legends behind the 1972 and 2012 destructing rainfalls.

The 1972 Great Flood of Luzon

In 1972, time of Marcos' administration (or should I say, dictatorship), the whole Luzon sunk in flood caused by non-stop rainfall. They said, the reason was the disappearance of Sto. Niño of Tondo on July 14, 1972. The rainfall lasted after 40 days and 40 nights just like the biblical story of Noah. First Lady Imelda Marcos, hearing this as the reason, ordered to find the said image, as well as Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, her husband. They set large amount of peso as reward to whoever will find it and point out the thief who stole it.

According to Fr. Lorenzo Egos, parish priest of Tondo that time, the Sto. Niño de Tondo vanished when ... the thieves hid in the church when the doors were bolted at 8 p.m. the night before. He also told the police that he suspected peoples attending the Mass days before.

The image was described as being: two feet tall, a wooden body with ivory parts, adorned with accessories of gold and silver. To the faithful, the image was priceless, but for police purposes a P500,000 price tag was provided.

Three days after the disappearance of Sto. Niño de Tondo, the suspect was arrested. He is Reynio Rivera. The image was found separately in Balagtas Street (the wooden body dumped in a canal near Rivera?s house, the left arm, a silver scepter, a golden cross, and a bronze crown), and was sent to Malacañang Palace to put them together. By the way, the other parts were recovered from Eugenio Milan (as he bought the gold cross for only P43, and became the accessory of the crime), and some others was sold in the art gallery in Vito Cruz. Dr. Eleuterio Pascual, the owner of the gallery, presented to Mrs. Imelda Marcos the other parts.

It turned out that the said 40 days and 40 nights of non-stop rainfall was not really true. A thanksgiving was held in Palace when Pres. Marcos read the English and Tagalog version of the ephistle, while the devotees were waiting outside to escort their patron. The image was brought back in procession to Tondo on August 2, 1972. That same time, the weather improved and the flood subsided. The procession became emotional.

Well, after the said event, churches' treasures and important artifacts were brought back to the specific church were they came from.

The 2012 Habagat

Here, the reason behind the said rainfall, which lasted for almost one week non-stop of rainfall, was the disappearance of the gold-plated monstrance in St. Peter's Shrine along Commonwealth, Quezon City. It was actually stolen by someone, till now, no one who he/she was.

Monstrance is a vessel that displays the consecrated host. It is placed inside the adoration chapel where people can see it and pray silently. According to research is not only used by the Roman Catholic but also by Old Catholic and Anglican churches.

In this case, the monstrance was not brought back, however the Habagat faded deliberately. So, it was strange, and on the other hand, it was obviously not real.

PAGASA's Explanation why it happened

The reason of almost non-stop raining was the typhoons that struck the Philippines almost consecutively.

The Bagyong Edeng passed first. It landed in the Philippines.

The Bagyong Gloring next. Even though it didn't land fall in the Philippines, yet it strengthened the Habagat (Southwest Monsoon) which flowed in the country leading 214 deaths. It happened on July 17 and 21.

Then the Bagyong Huaning and Bagyong Isang.

Just recently, Habagat struck the Philippines, which was strengthened by Bagyong Gener. This typhoon was formed in southeast of Metro Manila. It sunk half of Pampanga, some cities in Metro Manila, Bulacan and other neighboring provinces of the latter.

Still, I'm wondering if the 1972 incident was true or not, but the reason might be Filipino's are searching for reason or who should be blamed of the strange happening.