Too good to be true

I know somewhere along the way, the government's choice for the private sector to lead the rehabilitation program for the typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng aftermaths is to too good to be true. Two weeks have passed, no single action plan has been taken.

No wait, there is one, the government, through Secretary Teodoro was quick to define the authority of the private sector, through the appointed Chairman, Manny Pangilinan. That it's authority is simply recommendatory. PDI pointed this out in its article today. The government "clipped" the wings of Pangilinan at the onset, and limited the private sector's inputs to "raising of the funds."

And just when you think that the government is humble enough to admit that it does not have the capability alone to do the reconstruction, therefore calling on the private sector to assist, it quickly showed its true color. Not surprising, much financial resources has been coming in from international donors, personalities, groups and countries. The private sector should not see the hand that does the corruption.

For this is the only reason. Do we really think that Pangilinan was selected for his "management genius?" I don't think so. He was selected in order to anoint the program with credibility in the eyes of the people. In reality, he will have no real powers, no real authority to disburse the collected funds without the consent of government. Pangilinan is the figurehead to the real "disburser" of funds, the government through Teves, and whoever will replace Teodoro in the next 2 weeks.

As if their image building is not enough that they have to get an official of the Catholic Church as a high ranking member. When in reality he has no real authority, except probably to lead the prayers during meetings. Again, Cardinal Vidal and Pangilinan are being made "puppets" for the government's corrupt hands. The worst part of it was, it was being done in the name of the victims of a tragedy.

With these plots being set in place, the conclusion can be written. No genuine reconstruction program will take place, international donations will be corrupted and used for the elections next year, the good name of those respected in society will be mudded by having been used in this "project." All in the good cause of salvaging whatever credibility is left in this administration to say that - they did something to solve the mess of this tragedy.

Bayanihan among high government officials?

If it is a question, then the answer is none. But among us the masses? Sure. It has been self-evident. People everywhere have been giving a helping hand, whether resources or time. But those who should be primary accountable?

Those people are more pre-occupied with their self-interest to care. The sad part is, they've been giving the masses a show that they do care and has been giving a helping hand. To look at them as heroic at this point in time is to see this event with childish, immature eyes.

But we are all adults. And we have been looking at them long enough to know that self-interests comes first before giving the necessary and immediate assistance to those in need, the Filipinos who voted for them, and those they will ask to vote for them next year.

Perhaps the election is the culprit. Bad timing, these tragedies are. They cannot just release the funds necessary to rebuild because it is being saved to buy votes in April. Why not release now and have it leveraged for the next election? Because election laws prevent it. That's probably why one presidentiable goes around with shows and "discreetly" campaigns while giving donations of food and housing raffles to the victims. Bad taste really.

And others giving the donations with yellow shirts? Are we really that stupid to think that the color they carry is really non-partisan? Come to think of it, yellow gets dirty easily, so why wear it while going to the flood and mud areas?

And this government. Bless them for asking international help for the victims. When we know for a fact that those donations will not be accounted for. The tragedies just gave them another license to build up their campaign funds, with no real help reaching the real victims.

By the speed help is coming to the real victims, you would think we're still living in the 50's. But the problem is not logistics. It's the release of the funds and how portions of it are slowly being stripped through the pockets of government officials in the approval process.

Meanwhile, people who are trying to make ends meet with the resources left to them and still make a life out of it awaits. Probably with April 2010 approaches they can get their assistance. So the government will get something back through the votes. Something not worth of them in the first place.

Apocalypse

We have always believed that the apocalypse will be an event that will come from the heavens, an out of this world phenomenon that man will be so powerless to prevent. For the religious, it is the second coming of Christ as portrayed in the Book of Revelation. For the scientist, it is a next stage of evolution in which this world will be purified by some action of a meteorite or a comet. 2012 was predicted to be the year this will occur according to Nostradamus. A movie was dedicated to it.

Now more than ever, with the increasing consciousness of climate change, global warming, and the the spiraling destruction to the environment, this "imaginary scenarios" has been penetrating the realm of the real.

I hate to be a doomsayer. But I like to be a realist. It's slowly becoming not only a child's horror story, but a possible real event.

And it's not something that will come from the heavens. Environmental tragedies from time immemorial never changed. But what did change is the the natural protection of the planet from all these possible devastations. And it's not the work of the gods, but of men. What did change is the natural resiliency of man in creating innovative prevention and protection measures. Man's intelligence has survived the greatest of tragedies in history. This is definitely not the work of the gods.

The real apocalypse is that God will not destroy the earth, man will. Because of greed, irresponsibility, downright disrespect to the environment and did I mention, greed?

Two tropical storms have almost devastated a country. And it is not because of the storms. It is because of greed and irresponsibilty of man, and the government they run.

Picking up the pieces

They just can't believe it. Somehow it amazes them as it intrigues them. Filipinos can afford to smile and be cheerful despite the tragedy that struck. This is how the U.S. Marines described their experience in the relief centers when they came for assistance. And this made them smile, as captured on the photos, of their experience.

We Filipinos are known to be resilient in the face of calamity. Some can even find humor in the fact that since we are so used to calamities in every way, we can afford to smile on it.

Of course, it's not a smiling matter if you have dead family members, or lost houses and important properties. But somehow, we have learned to keep things in stride.

"Ganyan po talaga, kelangang tanggapin," commented a Marikina resident taxi driver. He only had a day to clean up everything and then he's off the next day to work. "Pag hindi po nagtrabaho, baka mas walang perang panggastos."

This is how we Filipinos rebuild our lives. We pick up from the pieces and continue with what we have. Resiliency. Acceptance. And with smile on our faces.

Foreigners are amazed in seeing this. And it's a good thing. Let them know that nothing keeps the Filipinos down. We always comeback. We always pick up the pieces.

Small Miracles

It is sometimes funny how people behave in crisis situations. People, and that includes myself. When trouble comes and we asked for deliverance, we look for big miracles. Like I imagined during the heights of the storm, it would be nice to have Jesus calm the storm like what he did in the gospels. Or Moses raising his wand to have the flood waters clear the stricken areas like Marikina and Cainta.

But we all know no big miracles came. Not even government miracles. We have to make our own miracles to survive.

But today is different. Today, a miracle happened. It's not everyday that a supertyphoon would coincidentally change its course, and avoid hitting areas that are just barely recovering from the last storm. It's not everyday that a typhoon strong enough to create a panic buying behavior to urban settlers will not be felt as it was feared in the forecasts. The size of the storm in the satellite photos made people so afraid that offices and shops closed early, traffic cleared almost immediately (considering a Friday).

But that is what happened today. It still hit part of the country, but considering the forecasts, it was a clear diversion.

It's not a big miracle. The media didn't hyped on it. Instead, it still focused on the areas hit so the drama will continue to boost their ratings. But it was a miracle nevertheless.

Come to think of it, miracles are just around us, happening everyday. No big miracles of course, but small miracles. And it is in these small miracles that we can see that God still holds us in his hands.

Judging a civilization

I read in some classical book somewhere, "A civilization is judged by observing how their prisoners are being treated." I can't remember the book, but it's some Greek philosopher who said it in that book, referring to the early democracy in Athens.

It was quoted again by John Cusack, playing Vincent Larkin in the movie, ConAir, which I just watched from the cable 15 minutes ago.

And I can't help but think of the story I heard from some friends who went to the Marikina relief centers. When the floods came , swamping 90% of Marikina, including the Marikina City Jail, 30 prisoners died of drowning. Apparently, the location of the jail is in the basement, and no one bothered to release them, despite their cries for help.

One friend of mine said it was just urban legend of this flood, like the crocodiles being identified roaming the flood waters. At least the crocodiles attracted the attention of the media. This particular event did not. Another friend bolted out that there was a news blackout on this story, upon the request of the local government.

Whatever the truth of this "hearsay," I guess we will never know. Besides, those people are prisoners, guilty of some crime and they do not deserve to be released and be free. Who knows, they might even steal the relief goods intended for the victims.

Really? Is that how we think? Were those people tried beyond reasonable doubt for the crimes they committed? Were there no innocently accused among them? Were all of them guilty? Was the flood water their death sentence?

There are no answers to these questions except for one. And that is, a civilization is really defined by observing how they treat their prisoners. End of story.

Blacker than kettle

When one steals from the rich to give to the poor, one is considered a hero. When one steals from the poor to enrich oneself, that is a corrupt politician. When one steals for the sake of stealing, then one should belong to a mental institution. But if one steals from the victims of a tragedy, I cannot even find the words to describe them.

They are blacker than kettle. And I refer to their souls.

A story during a relief good distribution in Cainta elicited all the hate within me. A man riding a relief truck hoisted a can of corned beef among the flood victims and yelled, "Eto, 50 pesos lang!"

That guy belongs in hell (and he should go right now too). The truck, obviously a truck of relief goods, was being raped of its contents by "selling" it to the flood victims. Selling something that is really intended to the victims, and making money out of it?

I've heard of dead bodies discovered when the water cleared in the streets of Marikina. And it made me think why that guy wasn't one of them.

Stealing from tragedy victims levels with crimes of murder and torture. Those guilty should be meted with the death penalty. But if one thinks one should sell a donated Levi's jeans in order to be guilty of such an action, think again. Here are some actions which I think belongs to the same category:

- Receiving cash donations for the victims and then pocketing them

- Exchanging a donated good with something of lesser value

- Overpricing one's products because of demand due to the tragedy (like the funeral parlors, and carwashes)

- Lying about the donations received

- Posting as a relief center in order to accept donations from misinformed donors

- Waiting for media to "picture" you before giving the donations to the victims who obviously need them at the moment
- posting as a victim when one is not just to received the relief goods for oneself

- Giving donations in order to get votes in the coming elections

A tragedy brings out the real characters of people. And some characters wake up my hate.

The Real Tragedy

No one can blame nature. No one can control it. An insurance policy says it all, although a bit inaccurate - "Acts of God." We do not have control over typhoons, earthquakes, and whatever nature throws upon us. Everything is a lesson.

But our preparation, organization, and response - these are things we can control. And here is where the real tragedy lies. When Ondoy hit us, the government, supposed to be the one looked up by the people, panicked, struggled, and fumbled. Three days of continuous rain taught us the bitter truth - we are not prepared for this crisis.

Just the pictures, videos, stories, experiences say it all. Our government does not have control. Busy with all the politicking, and the embarrassing early preparations for the election, it was caught with its hand on the cookie jar. Their performance during these times, clearly tells what they really are -incompetent.

Now, a new storm is coming. The people, who have mistakenly looked up to them for security and relief, have suffered enough. If we experience another incompetent response, then that would be another real tragedy.

And this we cannot afford.