RJMarmol.com

Ondoy's Wrath Came So Close To Home

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I stare at this screen perplexed. All along, I knew there weren’t any reports of injuries, much less, of death in my barangay. When I went to the barangay hall Sunday morning after the waters subsided, I was told the evacuees, most of them, if not all, were already back home tending after their damaged properties.

All along, I thought the worst that happened this little side of my Philippines is the exodus of people in a village in Landayan, San Pedro, Laguna.

And then, I read this. Just now.

1 dead, 3,000 families evacuated in Calamba City
By Karen Lapitan
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 11:59:00 09/29/2009

Filed Under: Disasters (general), Flood, Evacuation(General)

CALAMBA CITY, Laguna, Philippines — One died and over 3,000 families in this city were evacuated to safe ground as floods spawned by typhoon Ondoy swamped this city, disaster officials reported on Tuesday morning.

Officials identified the dead as David Rafols, 20, a resident of Barangay (village) Looc, Calamba City while the city’s Action Center said 3,084 families or 15,765 individuals were already in 43 designated evacuation centers in the area.

It added that so far, 4,598 families or 22,015 persons in this city either fled from the floods or lost property due to the floods spawned by typhoon Ondoy.

City government and resident-volunteers had been clearing the streets of mud since Monday afternoon

My heart goes out to these people. I am duty-bound as neighbor and ka-barangay to help them out and search them in 43 separate evacuation centers I hardly heard of until now. I spend so much time publishing information in the knowledge that all is well here now. Apparently, not all.

Flood at Mahogany Villas, Brgy. Looc, Calamba City, Laguna at the onset of Typhoon "Ondoy"
Flood at Mahogany Villas, Brgy. Looc, Calamba City, Laguna at the onset of Typhoon "Ondoy"; Manageable compared to what our fellowmen in Metro Manila experienced.

I am from Barangay Looc. Where we are, the water went up as high as ankle-deep. Maybe knee-deep in other streets/blocks. The affected people may be the ones occupying that low-lying area at the mid-part of this barangay (our village rests on the border between the other barangay (San Juan) and Looc.

God rest his soul.

I guess this is part of the risk of living so close to bodies of water. Besides, they wouldn’t call this “Looc” for nothing, would they?

Let me know what you think… :)

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● About Me
Cecilia Regina Aquino Blanquera Marmol aka RJ Marmol profile picture

I’m RJ Marmol — writer, musician, and independent creator based in Manila.

I write songs, essays, and books about the messy overlap between money, overwhelm, creativity, identity, and rebuilding. Much of my work circles around what happens when life stops feeling manageable — and how we try to think clearly, make decisions, and keep moving anyway.

I’m also the author of Rebuilding Under Debt: Thinking Clearly When Everything Is a Blur, a nonfiction book published under Steady Hand Press. The paperback edition is listed under my full publishing name, Cecilia Regina Aquino Blanquera.

On the music side, I release work as HeyRJ. On the writing side, this site is where I gather my books, essays, notes, and whatever I’m building next.

Music

HeyRJ is my sonic soul project. I create raw, minimalist-style and deeply personal music interpretations that feel like a late-night conversation with your truest self.

By blending lo-fi acoustic textures with poetic honesty, my work explores love, loss, grief, healing, and the quiet in-betweens of life. Each song is a letter — a journal entry — a gentle companion for when the world feels too loud or too quiet.

While my catalogue began with intimate cover renditions, my work is increasingly being shaped by original writing, drawing from years of poems, lived questions, and emotional survival.

“Stuck Home Syndrome” released on March 20, 2026 is my first original 20-track album written during a period when time felt compressed and days began to blur into each other. The songs came from sitting with thoughts that had nowhere else to go — unfiltered, repetitive, and sometimes uncomfortable. It’s a concept album that isn’t built around singles or polish. It’s closer to a continuous inner monologue, recorded with minimal production and very little ornamentation and meant to be listened to as one cohesive body of work. The goal wasn’t to resolve anything, only to document how it felt while it was happening.

On May 29, 2026 I released new original singles – “Rapturous”, “Uh Huh”, “Look At You”, “All That” and “Blew Print”. I continue to release both original and cover songs and intend to so for as long as I can so check back every once in a while — you might. just find something you’ll like.

For business inquiries relating to music, email me at: heyrjmusic[at]gmail[dot]com or my personal email at: rjmarmol[at]gmail[dot]com.

Books

Rebuilding Under Debt: Thinking Clearly When Everything Is a Blur

A nonfiction book about what debt does to the mind — and how to begin functioning again when financial stress has made everything feel blurred, urgent, and overwhelming.

Rather than treating debt only as a financial math problem, the book explores the emotional and cognitive realities of financial distress: shame, decision fatigue, avoidance, panic, relationship strain, and the difficulty of making sound decisions while mentally depleted.

Published under Steady Hand Press. It’s available worldwide in ebook and paperback formats on Amazon. Bookstores and libraries can also be order it wholesale via Ingram.

Contact

For book-related inquiries, media requests, bookstore questions, or discussion-group invitations, you can reach me through the contact page on this site or send me an email to rjmarmol[at]gmail[dot]com or hello[at]steadyhandpress.com

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