Unfathomable

There are many things wanting in government’s response to the flooding. Not the least of them is an explanation on why this is all happening.

Much of Central Luzon remains submerged. The NLEX remains clogged. The streets of Mega Manila are so susceptible to flooding such that classes are suspended at the first hint of a downpour.

In some areas, the flooding was unprecedented. Homes were completely overwhelmed. Whole neighborhoods can only be reached by boats or by rafts. Thousands of families remain in evacuation centers, dependent on food aid in boxes that announce we now have a new Philippines.

A new country indeed. A country where misery multiplies faster than any plague.

We are a people toughened by many years of misrule by an irresponsible elite. But increasingly, the situation has become unbearable. In Bulacan, last week, angry citizens mounted a protest rally wading in the floodwaters.

We have seen bridges collapse and roads disappear. But we have not seen any running estimate of the damage incurred by our infra and by our farmlands. It is as if our officials are hoping that by remaining silent about the costs, they might somehow diminish over time.

President BBM was quoted making strange statements about the water avoiding the dams, therefore the flooding. He was rightly ridiculed in social media for those statements. He seemed to have overlooked the fact that our puny dam system itself has to unload water downstream.

We do not have the dams we need to hold water we will need throughout the year. When it rains, they threaten to break. During the hot months, they run dry. We have outgrown our dams like our children outgrow their shoes. But we have no plans to supplement them.

The hated Palace mouthpiece blamed motorists for continuing to use the flooded expressway. It did not occur to her that some people risked the inconvenience because they needed to go to work or complete vital deliveries.

The governor of Pampanga proposed that the sea be dredged to ease the flooding. She forgot all about the concept “sea level.” It might be useful to dredge rivers. But even if you dredge the sea, the tide remains the same.

Lately, the President is telling us that, henceforth, a masterplan will be followed in building the flood management infrastructure. A masterplan has been on the shelves for decades. Ignored. Some other dynamic, which the President did not explain, dictated how the public works money is to be allocated.

A senator called for yet another public hearing on why the flooding happened – or, more precisely, why it seems to be getting worse. The Senate itself had to suspend hearings because of the floods. These hearings will invite the usual suspects who will give the usual spiels. No one will say the flooding is symptomatic of a general failure in governance.

The cacophony of useless excuses so far offered about why the calamity happened on the scale it did might have been averted if the national leadership authoritatively issued a general theory of what just occurred. The problem, however, is that they will indict themselves if they do this. 

We did not want for planning. The archives will bear that out.

But we did not have the political order that will allow plans to be executed. Long-term plans need long gestation. We have a political order that prefers instant gratification.

Long-term plans require long-term budget commitments. We have a budget process with only an annual horizon.

Study the proposed 2027 national budget. Funding for long-term projects such as the north-south commuter rail system disappeared. These projects of long gestation will not reward the current power wielders. They will not be useful for shaping the outcomes of the 2028 elections – even if they are ultimately useful for returning our economy to a growth track.

Pax Silica is this administration’s last chance to leave a mark. But this is unlikely to happen. The word in the business grapevine is that the potential anchor investments for this project have decided to build in Malaysia instead. It will take us more than a decade to build the power supply needed. Malaysia offers only a fourth of our power rates. It is not worthwhile for the investors to wait for expensive power that may or may not be available by the time they need it.

The industries that move the world, such as advanced chipmakers or artificial intelligence builders, are fleet-footed. What they need to support their investments they need now. They are not impressed by the promises of a government that could not deliver for its people.

If our government could not manage how water moves across our communities, or even plan for how our trash might be properly disposed, it cannot be trusted with managing some high technology utopia. If our government could not explain how a vital tollway became submerged for days, we cannot be confident it can deliver the tens of thousands of details needed to make a cutting edge industrial zone run.

Investments is a confidence game. By its flimsy performance during the last calamity, our government cannot inspire confidence.

While Mega Manila was submerged in water and in the global news, my son messaged from abroad: why aren’t the people revolting?

We are too exhausted just surviving.