How many more wake up calls do we need?

Perhaps the Filipino nation was too engrossed with the political happenings in Metro Manila… we didn’t realize that the gods have gotten very angry at our too much politicking. Then all of a sudden, we once again have another natural disaster in our hands when typhoon Sendong (which was not even considered a super typhoon) devastated two Northern Mindanao cities, notably Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City, where close to 2,000 people are dead or missing, while more than 20,000 have been rendered homeless when floodwaters rose to unprecedented heights.

This disaster once more got the attention of the Aquino regime, who was told that this unexpected disaster was a wake-up call for our disaster preparedness and risk management councils. Come now, how many wake up calls do we need huh? Didn’t pundits say that the July 2010 typhoon Basyang or Ondoy was our wake-up call? If you Googled “wake-up call” chances are you would get a litany of typhoons that struck not only the Philippines, but also most of Asia. So again we ask the lords of the Philippine government… How many more wake-up calls do we need before we get our acts together and prevent those senseless deaths from happening?

I don’t want to delve into the blame game, but the stark reality is most of the victims of typhoon Sendong were people who lived along the banks of the rivers that overflowed to record heights. Someday I hope the government will be able to get its act together, and have the political will to relocate settlers illegal or legal away from potential danger zones. When that day comes … then we can say that finally, Filipinos are able to run the Philippines like heaven.

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Speaking of Cagayan de Oro, allow me to reprint a letter from a Mrs. Mary M. Belen of Cagayan de Oro City who wrote us a few days ago in reaction to our columns about where our country is headed. This letter was emailed to me a few days ago and I can only hope that Mrs. Belen was not a victim of the flash floods in that southern city. Here’s her letter in full.

“Mr. Avila, I have just finished your article and I felt I had to say something or give a comment. I am not a lawyer but rather just a stay at home mother. I gave up my job so I could take care of my daughter personally rather than hire a yaya. As an ordinary citizen, I have to admit that I am a little scared because my daughter is only 14 years old and is only 3rd year high school. This means that she has another year to go before she goes to college and depending on the course she has to take will perhaps spend some years in college before she gets to look for a job and fend for herself.

What is happening right now in our country saddens me because of the infighting in the government. I am not a fan of the President nor a fan of CJ Corona, but I also would not want the impeachment to push through simply because I do not believe it to be the right thing to do. Aside from this, I heard the news that De Lima uttered some words like, “the rest of the judges that does not agree with the President will also be impeached!”

Just asking Mr. Avila, does this not sound like a threat to you? Does it mean that those who do not agree with the President must leave his/her post? No wonder CJ Corona speaks of the P-Noy dictatorship. Kung dili diay ka mosunod sa Presidente wa kay pulos? What kind of mindset is this? I always thought that we all have a freedom of choice. Ngano man nga diktahan ta?

Power has a way of making one invincible. While the President pushes his way around and forces his decision on others, the people in the provinces are suffering. Philippines is not made up of Manila or Luzon alone. It also includes the Visayas and Mindanao and yet people like us who live in these places are made to fend for ourselves without assistance from these politicos. They only come to us during elections when they are after our votes. Paghuman sa election, we are left on our own.

My apologies for this long letter but I feel I needed to let you know about the feelings of an ordinary person. I am tired of watching the national news on TV because pareha lang permi wala man lain ng news sila ra man. Magbasa nalang ko sa imong mga articles kay ma inform pa ko sa insakto. Merry Christmas from Mrs. Mary M. Belen [email protected] Cagayan de Oro City.” Thank you Mrs. Belen for your long letter. The reason why I printed you letter among the many I get from those articles is so that your voice and those of others should also be heard.

I assure you ma’am… there are millions of us not from Luzon who feel exactly the same way about Imperial Manila. I was in Ubay, Bohol the other weekend and this was the very same sentiment of the fishermen in Ubay and in Candijay. Someday we will have a better governed nation…. Someday.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through http://www.philstar.com.