Of garbage and politicians

During and after the floods, and after the monsoon rains, came tons and tons of garbage. Then came the politicians, in their branded get up, coming down from their ivory towers and bringing some relief goodies to the hungry crowds of poor and marginalized people. Come to think about it, aren’t there some measure of congruence between what we call garbage and what we refer to as “trapos’’, or traditional politicians? For one, both are a menace to human lives, in different ways and for different reasons. The labor front is always the worst hit, the most vulnerable among all probable victims, of both garbage and “trapos’’.

Those that we call garbage are the proximate results of the peoples’ lack of concern for their habitat, thus, also lack of concern for their own health, safety and wellbeing. Bad politicians are elected by people who do not genuinely care for their country and also do not have a genuine care for their own welfare and interests. Both garbage and “trapos’’ are the direct consequences of a peoples’ lack of love for their own selves and for their children. Both are products of “karma.’’ Human beings reap what they sow. Whatever they owe nature and reason, they will have to pay dearly. And not only them, even the seven generations down the line. 

In the last calamity that hit the National Capital Region and some nine provinces, claiming the lives of more than 65 innocent people and destroying billions worth of properties and crops, we have seen the worst of both garbage and politicians. Tons and tons of wastes descended to the streets and communities in Metro Manila and nearby cities and provinces, clogging the drainage and causing water to rise to unprecedented levels. The effects were reportedly worse than Typhoon Ondoy. These waters inundated farms and homes, sending people to panic and devastation, unheard of since the Noah’s arc.

Then came the ones who are more scheming than garbage to take advantage of the situation, to gain mileage out of such a desperate situation - the honorable and venerable politicians, straight from their hallowed ivory towers, in their government SUVs and helicopters, followed by an array of security operatives and PR men. They distribute goodies as relief goods, making sure that their stage-managed smiles and speeches are captured live by national television. And those who are not yet politicians but are intending to run in 2013, be they wives, husbands sons, or daughters of the incumbents, were there too, tagging along shamelessly.

What have these “trapos’’ done to care for the people and the environment? What have they initiated in order to make sure that the urban poor segregate their garbage and manage their habitat with a long-term view of the future? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Instead, they tend to perpetuate the dirt and the poverty of the people whom they exploit and use during elections. For as long as the people are poor, they would have a need for the “godfather’’ to buy their votes, to distribute relief goods, and to give them dirty, difficult and dangerous jobs. There is not much difference between those garbage and the “trapos’’. They are both obnoxious to human society, both abominations to the human spirit.

The politicians are not going to clean the garbage because they need dirt to “clean up’’ for show. They have the power and the resources to prevent disasters and calamities. Of course, they cannot outlaw typhoons.  But by all means, they could alleviate the poor’s pitiful conditions, by certain positive legislation and concrete community action. Garbage are results of man’s folly. But politicians are the authors of all follies and scams. More than others, they bear the most blame. To whom much is given, much is expected. 

But then again, like the garbage that we all hate, the politicians just lie there. And they die there.  And yet, we keep on electing them, as we keep on throwing away our garbage anywhere, any time. Everybody says they are bad. And yet, we keep on producing them. Shame on all of us.