Date: October 3, 2013 #disaster #scrapthepork #millionpeoplemarch gut feel by: leny manalo Saving and rebuilding lives from disasters From the start I have known Manila Bulletin as a broadsheet that avoids shrieking headlines and eye-popping front pages, but last Wednesday my attention was caught by its juxtaposing layout that to me carried the main message for the day. The front page carried a photo of the collapsed Pigalo Bridge spanning the Cagayan River in Angandanan, Isabela showing students and other residents clambering up the fallen concrete slabs in order to reach their daily destinations. It was no news at all because the bridge was destroyed 3 years ago. It remained unrepaired until now - that was the news. Surrounding the photo were the reports that the Zamboanga firefight was continuing despite official announcement to the contrary and that the pork scam saga kept expanding despite attempts to confine it far from Malacanang doorsteps. The people of Angandanan need just one bridge to bring normalcy to their lives. The distressed people of Zamboanga City need their houses and livelihood rebuilt to bring back their lives. That was how the Manila Bulletin front page struck me. It made me ponder on the disasters, natural or man-made, that are becoming daily fare for Filipinos. It worries me that the government that should help rebuild people’s lives from the effects of disasters now needs first to recover lost honor and dignity so it can itself survive the current political crisis that is threatening to become a much bigger disaster. My niece who is married to someone from Olongapo City posted a message just recently asking for donations of clothes, beddings and other basic necessities for victims of the worst flooding in the history of the city. I have known Olongapo City to be one of the most prepared for disasters but apparently officials there were not expecting a catastrophe to hit them that bad. Saving lives during calamities will need disaster preparedness, but rebuilding lives after disasters will need both the assistance of government and the generous heart of the community. When Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Paulino reported that damages to the city reached 2.1 billion pesos I readily felt his anguish knowing he inherited some 5.1 billion pesos in debt to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) representing unpaid power charges that accumulated steadily under the past city administrations. While the city was granted some reprieve, the corresponding debt restructuring still required it to pay P10 million monthly, which will be deducted from its internal revenue allotment of P33 million. That is still an extremely difficult situation for a city needing rehabilitation from a disastrous calamity. Mayor Paulino once said he will ask for a senate investigation on the enormous debt which threatens the city government’s ability to deliver basic services and very existence. It was a surreal scene where a contingent of the Philippine National Red Cross led by its indefatigable Chairman, former Senator Dick Gordon, was there in Olongapo City doing rescue and cleanup work for a city submerged under murky flood and buried under murky debt. Government funds wasted due to inefficiency and corruption are lost opportunities and capabilities to rebuild lives of those who fell victims to calamities and man-made disasters. By natural disasters alone some 3.7 million people are affected yearly in the country while the economic damage is estimated to be some 10 billion pesos a year. Ten billion pesos! Isn’t that an amazing coincidence? Ten billion pesos worth of pork barrel scam was the proverbial tip of the iceberg that led to the uncovering of bigger amounts of people’s money being misused so unashamedly, a man-made disaster that wreaked havoc on the image of the nation. It is equally amazing how one can suitably end every discussion these days on people’s concerns for basic government services with the following: Stop corruption, abolish the pork barrel system! Once this is done billions will be freed from the shackles of questionable prerogatives that can be used for education, health, housing and rehabilitation. I have the gut feeling that this is the key not only to saving more lives from disasters but also to saving the nation from a bigger disaster of failure of government. Leny Manalo Columnist "Gut Feel"/Contributor Headline Gitnang Luzon (headlinegl) Pampanga, Philippines
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 06:33:30 +0000
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