The kind of probe the government is conducting on the anomalous flood control projects throughout the country is rather ironic. For one, the person leading it is the son of the original Macoy, listed by a book of world records as the world’s biggest thief. I remember the lawyer that I supported in previous elections as telling us that Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should not be allowed to win the presidency. So I supported Leni Robredo instead. We lost.
But that turned out to be for good because Bongbong did not turn out to be like his father. I was surprised when a longtime supporter of the late Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Jr. described BBM, as he is now popularly known, as a liberal. Not surprising though because while “senior” was busy instituting authoritarian rule in the country, “junior” was spending time in mostly liberal democratic countries in the West.
So I find it ironic that BBM would be the one to ensure that this cycle of government corruption won’t be repeated. But on this, the Filipino people are once again relying on progressives and their allies like they did in the 1986 Edsa revolution. Leila de Lima and Chel Diokno may be in the House of Representatives but they have become some of the more reliable politicians because of the values and ideology they are championing. There’s also Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino, Francis Pangilinan and the others in the Senate, I include the no nonsense Panfilo Lacson there.
One other irony is the fact that the more the government implements flood control projects, the more people suffer from flooding. And I do like Lacson’s privilege speeches about the issue because these show how a man with deep military background could make it easier for the people to understand the magnitude of the problem and of how insensitive some government bureaucrats can be.
The problem now is on how the government can salvage a program that has already wasted billions, even trillions, of pesos through the years. I heard that spending for flood control projects would no longer be included in the next national budget. That would be unfortunate because many people are still suffering from flooding and they need a respite. If only the government implemented the flood control projects throughout the country well. Sad.
In Cebu, I would say that the main problem is Metro Cebu’s primitive drainage system. While we have been largely spared from those anomalous flood control projects, save for a few of course, the government can still allocate some money to straighten out our problematic drainage system. Officials of local government units need to be assertive this time and our lawmakers need to improve communication and coordination with these officials. Unity is what is needed to salvage the situation in our turf.
There are lessons that can be had from this experience. While justice still needs to be achieved, let us unite and make flood control a priority again. This time, this should be done sans the corruption whose magnitude we are now seeing in front of us.