Eight years ago on September, Tropical Storm Ondoy destroyed most of Luzon, submerging even the country’s capital in flood at record-breaking levels.
Remembering then, the tremendous rainfall and unusually strong wind made husband decide not to report for work that day. My mother, on the other hand, who lives in Novaliches, Quezon City, was on her way to a wake. She went back home when she got all wet because of the rain. Little did she know it was more of a blessing and not a waste of time.
The event that changed history
My mother experienced for the first time the highest height of flood. Houses on the opposite side of the street (near the Tullahan River) have been submerged in deep floodwaters. My mom recalled she could only see the roofs of the houses.
Our house wasn’t spared. Floodwater filled our home and reached about 2.6 meters (102.362 inches) from street level. Good thing, though, my ever vigilant mom decided to bring upstairs some of the home appliances and furniture she could carry. Every so often, too, she reminded her neighbors to do the same but some were just so complaisant. They reasoned out that “we’ve been here for 12 years and never did it occur that floodwater reaches our house.”
MOMI DARES| Change Your Mindset to Manage the Risk| Our bathroom submerged in floodwater and mud a day after the Ondoy event.
Sadly, that day, history changed. Our subdivision was submerged in floodwater. And its impact was so great that taught us a lesson. Perhaps, even brought a few opportunities to our family.
Manage the risk
My mother is into non-life insurance. She entered the business about 15 years or more because she believes in managing risk. Yearly, she renews our home insurance and property insurance. That means, our house and its contents are insured. Thus, despite the loss from the Ondoy episode, we were able to replace a few pieces of furniture. The money, of course, came from the property insurance claim.
One of the learnings from the Ondoy incident is the advantages of getting an insurance – whether life or non-life. It only proves that some insurance coverage is a necessity in a place where Acts of God – flood, earthquake, and typhoon – can cause one to lose his home or property. Insurance can make a big difference from restoring damaged property, replacing lost income, and even providing protection against a possible legal proceeding. In our case, we were able to claim from the property insurance. After a few months, we got a new dining table. My mom also thought of having the house repaired and repainted. Again, the money we got from the insurance helped a lot.
Change the mindset
Insurance -life or non-life – has been something individuals felt they do not need. But after the record-breaking weather phenomenon, my mom got new clients. The Ondoy episode boosted the take-up of home and property insurance policies. Likewise, it changed the mindset of a number of Filipino residential owners.
Most property owners and even businessmen realized the vulnerability of their properties and even businesses. Now, they are giving home and property insurance a chance. My mom relayed to me that time when most of his clients called her for an appointment. They would want to purchase insurance for protection.
[tweetshareinline tweet=”The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.” username=”IfZgcz8ZKo14VSCu3y8ejhrBGaCG*R!N:1:0″]~ Oprah Winfrey
Insure to be Sure
I asked my mom what is the best non-life insurance company in the country. She mentioned that Malayan Insurance stands at the forefront of the non-life insurance industry. The company adheres to the basic principles of good corporate governance – leadership, capability, accountability, sustainability, and integrity.
Looking at the achievements of the company and the products it offers, I may say that Malayan Insurance is proud of its accomplishment as much as it is proud of its contributions to the development of Philippine non-life insurance industry and to the progress of the Filipino nation.
Momi Berlin dares – Change Your Mindset to Manage the Risk
MOMI DARES| Change Your Mindset to Manage the Risk| Don’t let this happen to you. A friendly advise from Malayan Insurance.
Momi Berlin then dares you to change that mindset. I encourage you to look into the beauty of managing risk and live worry-free. It is possible. You may start by checking what insurance companies like Malayan can and may offer.
From our Ondoy experience and from the many stories my mom narrated to me, I believe that insurance is still the best way for risk management. The loss of a property can be crippling. But insurance can really help, despite not being popular among Filipinos. Ondoy gave us the chance to look at insurance in a new view. I hope there will no longer be another Ondoy to remind us again of that view. After all, we have 100% control over our mindset more than our chances of controlling another Act of God.
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Nobody was spared during Ondoy. It changed my family’s life too. After that unfortunate day, me and my husband made a huge decision to remodel and upgrade to a 2 storey house from an old school bungalow. And yes, we also had our house insured. Btw, be sure your insurance is “all in” with act of nature covered and if you can cover your house valuables as well.
I experienced chest deep flood during typhoon Milenyo. Nakakatrauma yung experience because I was alone in the house and I have to move our stuff to the second floor of my in-laws’ house, which is two houses away from our apartment. So I’m thankful that we were able to transfer to our new house, one week before Ondoy or else, nalubog ulit kami sa baha.
Insurances are a must talaga, be it non-life or life. Iba talaga when you are prepared. Good thing your family was safe during Ondoy.
I agree that almost no one got spared from Ondoy. Or house is on top of a hill (literally but you won’t know that since everything is made of concrete already especially the road) but we got a taste of Ondoy, too. Not that bad though, only about 2 feet of water entered our house whereas those at the bottom part of the street, flood was like 15 ft deep (lucky that the houses their are all 2-storey). Having an insurance is really importance because it saves us headaches later on.
We don’t have our own property yet so we have no need yet for such insurance. Will definitely get one though when the time comes. Right now, what I’m interested in is life insurance for myself.
That’s some really useful learning for people. For me, I had to change my mindset and attitude multiple times in the past to overcome certain things in life! Most of which were owing to my external environmental impacts 🙂 As they always say, “You are the change that is needed.”
This is an eye opener. I’m not even that aware of the non-life insurance options. It’s true that we should always have savings or in this case insurance in case accidents and unwanted events happen. 🙂 Thank you for this.
I agree 101%! I know some people who don’t “believe” in insurance for reasons only they understand. Having insurance doesn’t mean not having faith in God. It means being a good steward of your body, of your possessions. With that said, we have both life and non-life insurances. I’d rather get it while I still don’t need it!
Ondoy was very traumatic for me, first time ko talagang naexperience yung mabahaan sa bahay. I’ve never really thought of getting a non-life insurance kasi I figured na if you have a life insurance you’re set na. But yeah, Ondoy definitely changed my mindset on that.