Ending a year of plunder and disasters

The year 2025 ends at midnight today, with a national debt of ?17.56 trillion, a population of 117,300,00 Filipinos and counting, more than one half of whom are very poor, with a nominal per capita income of only $4,350. Among the ASEAN 11, we are second to Indonesia in population, but we are only fourth in Agriculture GDP, fifth in industry GDP, and also fourth in service GDP.

The Philippines, despite having more educated people, shows a very poor economic performance, while Singapore, a tiny city state with a population of about less than six million, and whose economy is fueled by the talents of foreign workers, mostly Filipinos, has a whopping nominal per capita income of $92,930, Brunei has $34,970, Malaysia has $13,140, Thailand has $7,770, Indonesia has $5,030, and Vietnam is edging us out with $4,751. If we do not get our act together and shape up, even Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Timor-Leste may give us a run for our money.

What ails the Philippines in 2025 and for the longest time are the twin evils of corruption and natural disasters. Sometime in July this year, reports revealed a ?142.7-billion budget insertion was included in the 2025 budget. On July 25, Senator Panfilo Lacson declared publicly that as much as half of the two trillion flood-control allocation over the last 15 years might have gone to the pockets of corrupt public officials both in the executive and legislative branches of government.

In his privilege speech entitled "The Flooded Gates of Corruption” delivered on August 20 this year, Lacson identified Bulacan as the vortex of flood-control corruption with contractors conspiring with DPWH officials. Senator Lacson named a former DPWH secretary as directly linked with a Pampanga mayor who was allegedly involved in flood-control anomalies. In September this year, Senator Rodante Marcoleta as the Blue Ribbon Committee chairman at that time, revealed that at least 60 ghost flood-control projects were being looked into.

Over mounting criticism against his leadership relative to the flood-control imbroglio, on September 17 this year, Speaker Martin Romualdez resigned from his post and he was forthwith replaced by the Palace choice, Congressman Bojie Dy of the 6th District of Isabela. On September 29, Zaldy Co, who left the country after the president's SONA, tendered his resignation from the House of Representatives. He was immediately replaced by his party-list, the Ako Bicol.

This fiasco has caused the president to create an Independent Commission on Infrastructure and also caused the removal of DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan. He was replaced by Vince Dizon who was the DOTC secretary. Later, the executive secretary resigned and was replaced by the former Finance secretary Ralph Recto. This imbroglio also led to the resignation of Usec Catalina Cabral and later to her untimely death under mysterious circumstances in Tuba, Benguet, along the Kennon Road to Baguio.

On top of all the shenanigans and corruption hullabaloo, the year ending tonight will be remembered for the series of natural disasters. On September 22, Super Typhoon Nando hit the country, causing massive devastation, displacing about five million people, destroying homes and livelihoods, infrastructure and irrigations, flood-control installations and other structures. On September 30, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit northern Cebu, killing 68 people, with dozens missing and hundreds injured.

Then came in rapid succession typhoons Tino, Uwan, Verbena, and Wilma. The last quarter of the year ending tonight destroyed so many houses, farms, irrigations and displaced many poor people. The twin evils of plunder and disaster mark this year as one of the worst this decade. I hope and pray that the resilience of the Filipinos is formidable as to withstand the confluence of the fury of nature and the greed and callousness of man.

This is a year we want to bid goodbye to right here and now, to and hope that its kind shall not revisit us again.