Actress Jennica Garcia surprised netizens when she was seen joining rescue efforts for victims of Typhoon Ulysses in Rizal and Marikina as part of the volunteer group Alliance Search and Rescue.
Early Thursday morning, the daughter of veteran actress Jean Garcia called for prayers as her team was deployed in Rizal, one of the areas hardest hit by severe flooding that was triggered by the typhoon.
“Presence of mind, liksi ng katawan, lakas at ang kakayahan na mag improvise sa mga pagkakataon kung sakaling may kailangan na gamit ngunit hindi sapat. Higit sa lahat panalangin po sana ninyo na wag kami tamaan ng kahit anong uri ng sakit,” she wrote, while paying tribute to other rescue teams who responded to calls for help.
By late Thursday night, Jennica shared their experience of retrieving a lifeless body of a homeless woman in Barangay Tumana in Marikina City.
“A few hours ago, we retrieved a lifeless body of a homeless woman who drowned at Dona Petra, Tumana, Marikina. Napag alaman namin na ang kanyang pangalan ay ‘Terry’,” she said.
She narrated how difficult it was to carry the woman to their boat due to lack of equipment and the strong current of flood waters.
“We didn’t have a stretcher and other equipments needed to transport her to land at that exact moment. May alon kaya hindi na namin kinayang balikan ang mga gamit. We had to improvise to get her inside our boat.
“Ang bangka na gamit namin ay hiram lamang at hindi de-motor. Sinagwan namin ito at itinutulak hangga’t kaya pag ang tubig ay mas mababa sa aming dibdib.”
She continued, “Manang Terry, alam ko pong nakita ng Panginoon ang buhay ninyo bilang isang homeless dito sa mundo. Naway nasa tabi na po sana kayo ng ating Tagapaglikha.”
In her latest post, Jennica updated her followers that they were just having a quick bite before heading for another affected area when kindhearted people gave them more food to eat.
“Nagpapasalamat po kami dahil may tumigil sa kalsada kung saan kami kumakain para bigyan kami ng J.CO. Ang dami! Walo lang kami pero ang daming box ang sa amin ay ibinigay. Maraming salamat po sa lahat ng mabubuting loob na nagbibigay ngiti at lakas sa amin. Tuloy pa po ang pag responde. Maraming salamat po ulit.”
But the day has not yet ended for Jennica as her eight-member group was going next to Cainta.
It’s not clear how she became a search and rescue volunteer, but this is not the first time Jennica became involved in such activities.
Last January, she was also part of the medical team sent to check on evacuees in the aftermath of the Taal volcano eruption.
A mother of two kids with actor husband Alwyn Uytingco, she is also known in the online community as a vocal advocate of natural childbirth and natural parenting.
