Why we have hope

MANILA, Philippines - I  want to be hopeful.

 As I was writing this, I looked back on a blog entry I wrote three years ago, after Ondoy struck Metro Manila. I was overcome with emotion, remembering the UERM students who stood in the hospital as oxygen tanks leaked, lighting hallways with their little penlights. Or the Palomar family who shared one hard-boiled egg on an isolated rooftop and said Hail Marys until their lips turned blue.

 There are still stories of courage and heart-breaking compassion this time around, with this no-name monsoon that deposited 687mm of rainfall in a 48-hour period (whereas Ondoy left 455mm total).

 We have 12,000 Bilibid inmates who gave up their meals so that these could be donated to flood victims. There is that woman who canceled her despedida de soltera and asked the caterers to prepare hot meals for flood victims instead. There are people like Divine Lee and Team Rescue 5, who have gone for days without sleep, verifying and heading out into dangerous weather to save hundreds upon hundreds of lives. There are stories of friends and brothers and sisters and colleagues taking to the streets, to the airwaves, to the Internet, to ensure that no life that could be saved wasn’t.

Good Hearts

I want to be hopeful. I want to believe that the good hearts of the men and women risking their lives to save their fellow man is enough. It’s not that I don’t believe in bayanihan; in fact, I think it’s one of the nation’s last saving graces. I just think that to be able to have hope, we must first ground it in truth.

 Just last month, it was reported that 661 manhole covers and drainage inlets all over Metro Manila were plugged by private contractors of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as they were asphalting roads. It’s bad enough that our drainage system leaves much to be desired without making it totally inaccessible. And yet we heard not a peep from DPWH. No badly photoshopped pictures, nothing.

 On the other hand, there exists an entity such as the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC, formerly the NDCC) whose sole purpose is to dream up the worst possible scenario and prepare for it. Here we are, in a case that actually has a precedent, and we got squat. Unless the plan was “hold press conferences when 90% of Metro Manila is submerged,” there was barely any sign of action. However they change the name of this council, it still accomplishes next to nothing, which would possibly piss me off less if they weren’t getting billions in financial assistance.

Urban Planning

Then we have the big question mark, which is good, sound urban planning. Especially one that has some focus on sustainable development—that is, consideration for how the way we live affects ecosystems, our carbon footprint, and the preservation of resources for future generations. We have certain big names putting up condos and supermarts in every available corner of the city, our trash disposal is abysmal at best, and for a country that is regularly racked with typhoons, we have no known systems to support us when they do.

 We are facing the ultimate consequence of all our actions, where there are 1.9 million people affected and 19 confirmed dead (as of press time). There is much about this that is our fault as individuals, and there are habits that we should definitely re-think. But as much as I want to venture into some deep self-reflection, I need to say that I am blistering, fuming, up-the-wall angry.

It’s admirable that we are so resilient, but we shouldn’t have to be. We elected a government to take care of us, regardless of the weather or the situation, and all they seem to do is see who can piss the highest. We have entrusted this country into the hands of men who are content to play games and throw away our money like it’s theirs. We have chosen not to get answers because we know that each time we do, we get evasive responses and half-hearted shrugs. We get choreographed televised apologies complete with romantic camera movement.  And I, personally, have had enough.

Enough Promises

I’ve had enough of promises from a President in search of his own legacy. Of feeling like a pawn in someone else’s game, or another voice to drown out. I’ve had enough of looking to my fellow private citizens to rebuild what someone I voted for threw so carelessly in the crapper. I demand answers. I demand accountability. I demand change. I demand every ounce of honesty and transparency that this country deserves, from its leaders and its citizens.

 It is in this vein that I have hope, that this is how we should be known. Not simply by our resilience or our compassion, but by the idea that our kindness will not supersede justice or fairness. This is how we will be known, by our integrity and the veracity with which we will pursue truth.

 And in the howling of torrential rainfall, they will hear. We are Filipino and we will settle for nothing less, and that is why we hope.

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