Of calamities and politicians

As flood waters continue to bring misery to the people in Central Luzon, some voices are heard accusing the management of a dam therein for releasing water from that reservoir. Done at the height of "Pepeng's" rage, this added, it was claimed, to the volume of rain water which poured over Pangasinan and nearly provinces thereby inundating dozens of municipalities in that area. How true is this allegation?

The dam authorities have not yet categorically answered the accusation as of this writing. But whatever their position is, some politicians are quick to capitalize on the issue and as expected the Senate is now bent on conducting an inquiry on it.

For God's sake, can't the politicians behave for the time being? Right now all hands are needed to help thousands of flood victims recover from the tragedy that befell them. For many survival is a problem. They have lost not only their homes but also their livelihood. Regular meal is a problem, and for those who have fallen ill, medication is a crying need.

In times like this every Filipino, especially those who have the resources, should share whatever he has if only to lighten a little the sad state of his brother Filipinos. Our politicians are millionaires, most of them, at least. If service is their mantra, can they not part from a pittance of their stash? Giving is serving too, giving sans camera and minus the thought of getting something back.

Surely, politicians or presidentiables who attempt to project their image while many are fighting for dear life in water choked shanties deserve the sharpest condemnation possible. That's why it's disheartening to see "infomercials" of presidential aspirants shown on tv prime time covering the ordeal of deluge and landslide sufferers. An observer cannot help but feel disgusted knowing that the tens of thousands paid for such exposure could have fetched in cartoons of canned goods or sacks of rice for those in need.

And now comes the Senate poised to stage a muro-muro of an inquiry which as usual costs precious resources in terms of money and manpower. As in dozens of previous inquiries, nothing will come out of it. In aide of legislation? Why don't those honorable gentlemen stop fooling the people? Done under the full glare of klieg lights such affair is nothing but an image-building stunt designed to prop up the candidacy of some Senators. What a bonus publicity that hearing would be!

Sad to say, the Senate (and the House) seems to be doing almost nothing in the face of threatening ecological disasters caused by climate change. Considering that the Philippines, like other third world countries, is vulnerable to such phenomenon, why don't those bright guys craft a comprehensive legislation that would minimize the impact of disasters such as that which hit Central Luzon? For example, if dikes were built along Pasig river and around Lake Laguna would there have been disastrous flooding during Ondoy? If that river and others were regularly dredged and obstructions cleared would the water have risen to such destructive height? In northern Luzon which "Pepeng" ravaged had the trees been there in sufficient number, would landslides have occurred?

Nature is hitting us back because we have abused it. But we have abused it because there have been no pro-active leaders in the past decades. True, we have an agency which is supposed to provide the direction and action towards nature conservation, but as in every program politics has bungled it and kept it inutile.

Under DENR's program there were (and are) supposed to be massive reforestation activities in all parts of the country. But to date little has been done for lack of financial and leadership supports. In fact, that agency is acutely undermanned and many of its personnel are casual or temporary in category. There are billions for DPWH, DepEd, AFP and what have you in budget allocations but DENR gets only a pittance.

That Luzon tragedy ought to be an eye-opener for our legislators. They should realize that the matter of conservation is one of life and death for our people. Hence, substantial funds should be channeled for protection and rehabilitation programs for the country's natural resources, particularly those that relate to disaster control. More than money, however, is a no-nonsense leadership in the national and local levels. With this and a good agenda in place what happened in Luzon can be prevented from happening again, and from occurring in other areas of the country.

Sadly, again, no word towards this effect has been heard from those who would like to be president. Perhaps, in the thick of the campaign weeks for now they would start dishing out what is in their mind about climate change and preparedness. But when the dust settles, we would be back to the same grind of politicking and patronage leadership.

Where's the passport office? 

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