Filipino-American YouTube star Bretman Rock took to his social media accounts to “spread awareness” and ask prayers for his flood-hit hometown in Cagayan Valley.
The hashtag #CagayanNeedsHelp is currently on Twitter’s trending topics as netizens sought help and rescue for residents trapped after the province’s “worst” flooding in decades caused by Typhoon Ulysses.
On Twitter, Bretman used the #prayforcagayan as he offered prayers for his kababayans who were affected by the calamity and shed light on the region’s current situation.
“Praying for my Home Town in the Philippines, we were struck with four typhoons and childhood home is literally submerged underwater…. I know there are so many things happening in the world right now but I just thought I would bring some awareness to this #prayforcagayan,” wrote Bretman.
Bretman, who has Ilocano blood, spent some of his childhood years in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan. He moved to Hawaii when he was seven years old and rose to YouTube fame with his makeup videos in 2016. His last visit to the country was in November 2019 for his father’s wake.
In a series of Instagram stories on Saturday, Bretman continued to talk about his home province being one of the areas greatly devastated by the typhoon.
“The past couple of days, they have been struck… by many typhoons and I know there’s more on the way. And my town is literally submerged underwater,” said Bretman.
Bretman also shared how he feels for the typhoon victims.
“I’ve been seeing a lot of videos on Twitter of people literally crying and begging for help and it’s just so crazy to me because those are literally my people, people that I grew up around with.
“Before I went on set today, I was crying and crying because I just could not fathom like how crazy it must be at home.”
Bretman also said that he doesn’t feel the need to be praised after sharing what’s going on in his hometown.
“I don’t think that I should be praised for something that I should be doing. I mean, I grew up there and I really would not be the person that I am today without you know, being from there.”
“I’m not asking you guys for donations, I’m really not. I’m just really trying to shed some light on it and share awareness on it.”
The 23-year-old social media personality also took a swipe at the government for “not doing anything” about the calamity.
“But what’s really interesting about that is that the government in the Philippines is not doing anything about it. I don’t wanna get in trouble but the government has really just been acting like nothing’s going on and it’s crazy to me honestly and that’s all I’m gonna say ‘cause I don’t wanna get in trouble,” said the US-based influencer.
Philstar.com reported that Cagayan has been placed under state of calamity on Saturday due to the biggest and widest floods experienced by the province.
Cagayan governor Manuel Mamba also appealed for help from the national government for the relief and rescue operations.
“We are trying to get all kinds of help that we can get. Please help us out in the relief and rescue operations,” said Mamba.
As of writing, all government assets have been deployed to respond to the flood crisis with President Duterte expected to visit the affected areas.
