MANY admired Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro for taking the MRT and wading through waist-deep waters on his way to the office on Sept. 26 to take command of the National Disaster Coordinating Center (NDCC).

The piece of news, however, made me ask: Where was he when the NDCC was supposed to prepare for any eventuality before typhoon Ondoy would hit the Philippines?

Sun.Star accepts donations for victims of Typhoon Ondoy

Where was the chairman of the NDCC when Ondoy struck and flood waters began rising fast? Was he supposed to be on top of the situation already, monitoring the growing water levels all over Metro Manila during the first few hours of the storm? Who was at the command at the NDCC while Teodoro took the MRT because the waters were already alarmingly high?

Was the NDCC functioning when Ondoy struck or did its people merely wait for Teodoro who was stranded somewhere else?

No wonder the government’s response was not only very late and inadequate as Metro Manilans struggled for their lives. The man charged with commanding the government bureaucracy tasked with responding to the disaster was himself caught with his pants down. He had to take the MRT and wade through already waist-deep waters.

Of course, Teodoro was already too late when he arrived. He should already have manned his NDCC post even before Ondoy struck and be on top of the situation.

Having been forced to take the MRT and wade through the flood was not heroism for the chairman of the NDCC. He was simply remiss at his job.

So much had been said about the government caught unprepared by the amount of water Ondoy poured into Metro Manila. A report about the NDCC chief being somewhere else when the flood was already waist deep should give us an idea of how unprepared government was.

Teodoro’s non-performance during the first hours of Ondoy should make President Arroyo think twice before endorsing the defense chief as her successor.

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Former senator John H. Osmeña led the recent revival of the Panaghiusa as the opposition’s organizational vehicle in the province of Cebu.

Panaghiusa used to be the opposition movement of moderate street parliamentarians and anti-Marcos politicians that organized massive protests in Cebu along with the Leftist Bagong Alyan-sang Makabayan (Bayan) after the death of Ninoy Aquino.

Led by the late Inday Nita Cortez-Daluz and Tony Cuenco, the movement participated in the 1984 Batasan Pambansa elections. Daluz, Cuenco, and the late Celing Fernan became Batasan members after a bloody election aftermath. At the height of the protests, John H. Osmeña returned from the US and joined the fray against Marcos.

In 1986, Panaghiusa supported the candidacy of Corazon Aquino and many of its leaders became OIC officials in the Aquino government.

The return of democracy brought back more Osmeñas—Lito O and Tomas O—that soon led to the demise of the political group in the 1988 local elections.

At the provincial level, Lito Osmeña maneuvered to oust street parliamentarians Inday Nita and Mocring Barcenas. In Cebu City, Panaghiusa, which supported the candidacy of then OIC mayor Boy Cuenco, split. John Osmeña and Tony Cuenco eventually backed political newcomer Tomas Osmeña.

Despite the use of the familiar Laban sign and other Ninoy and Cory symbols, the revived Panaghiusa is more of a gathering of anti-Garcia leaders than a pro-Noynoy Aquino movement. But then, I could be wrong.

(www.inbetweencolumns.wordpress.com)