Malice on Richard's rescue effort for

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Freehand

Richard Gutierrez was interviewed on "Showbiz Central" about his heroic rescue of Cristine Reyes who was stranded on the rooftop of her home in Provident Village at the height of Typhoon Ondoy. At first, he didn't want to be interviewed about it by the crew but he was convinced to share his personal experience with the floods. Later on, we saw him and his mom, Annabelle Rama, and we got more info about what happened. "Cristine called me up to say they're stranded nga and my mom called her manager, Veronique del Rosario, who assured her that help is on the way," he says. "Kaso, gumabi na but rescue is still nowhere in sight. She kept calling me and around 6 p. m. , she was crying and saying goodbye like she's losing hope. So I asked a friend, Nani Pascoguin, who got a speedboat and we went to Marikina. "

"Ruffa and Rocky went with him," says Annabelle. "Si Ruffa, complete ang costume, naka-leather jacket, hat, raincoat, rubber shoes. I'm so worried. I know it's dangerous. After some time, I called up Ruffa and she said hindi siya pinasama ni Richard. Nasa kotse lang daw siya with Rocky. More hours passed at worried na ako kasi wala kaming contact with Richard. Di namin alam what happened to him for five hours na so I asked Eddie (Gutierrez) na magpunta kami sa Marikina. Gusto ko talaga lumusong sa baha but it's so deep. I regretted why I allowed him to go. "

"It's an eye-opening experience for me," says Richard. "Parang end of the world scenario. It's pitchblack. We see cars and appliances floating around, people calling for help, asking for food. We can't go fast because the current is so strong and if we'd be taken to the river, tapos na kami. Our boat was ka-level na ng cables sa Meralco post and we had to lift them to pass through. At one point, I had to jump into the water to kick hard or we'll smash into a concrete wall. One time, I had to hold on to a tree branch para di kami ta-ngayin and I felt ang kati ng arm ko. 'Yun pala, puro hantik ang tree. The ants were biting me. We had to pause for sometime to think of our strategy. It took us 6 hours to get to Cristine's house. Tinabi namin 'yung boat sa rooftop nila and I helped her get into the boat. Her mom wouldn't leave the house at si Cristine lang ang sumakay sa'min. Her brothers in jetski came to help the others. "

Wasn't he scared? "I have deep faith in the Lord so I know hindi Niya kami pababayaan. From Marikina, we took Cristine to her sister Ara's home in Commonwealth Avenue. It was almost morning when we all got home. I was dead tired but my mind, gising na gi-sing at hindi ako makatulog. Naiisip ko lahat ng na-experience ko. What's sad is that some people say it's part of the promo for our movie ni Cristine, 'Patient X', as if we knew Ondoy would come and flood Metro Manila. I went to help as I can't just accept that I can't do anything. I felt I had to do my part. Kung pati 'yan, bibigyan pa nila ng ibang kulay, it's up to them. But I really want to salute all the rescuers kasi their job is not easy. They risk their own lives. "

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Source: People's Journal