If there’s any consolation in these gray overcast days, it’s that the word “resilience” has lost its shine, and is now regarded as a curse dooming us to a relentless cycle of calamities, the most recent being the record-high floods that have sunk lives, homes, and livelihood.
Indeed, this misplaced pride over the Filipinos’ capacity to survive insurmountable odds has given government officials a free pass from accountability for failing to do their job.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the combined effects of the southwest monsoon and last month’s tropical cyclones have affected at least 8.8 million individuals or 2.5 million families, and left 39 dead, 18 injured, and three missing across regions. Tens of thousands remain in evacuation centers while many more were stranded in areas suddenly cut off by rampaging floods and cascading mudslides.
Meanwhile, motorists on North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) found themselves stuck in traffic for as long as 22 hours with vehicle buildup of up to 10 kilometers (km), as the San Simon, Pampanga portion of the toll road was inundated by floods too hazardous to cross. A similar situation in 2023 led NLEx management to raise the level of affected roads, which apparently did not help much.
Human cost
The human cost of the disastrous floods is all too tragic in the case of 25-year-old Reiner Novero, who was caught on CCTV walking along a flooded sidewalk in Barangay Cutcut, Angeles City when he suddenly disappeared. An open drainage canal completely hidden by floodwaters had swallowed him, with his body later recovered 2 km downstream. Then there is the case of four passengers of a sport utility vehicle that fell into the Tarlac River after the Agana Bridge partially collapsed, with two bodies recovered so far.
The callous disregard for the welfare of constituents was underscored by this mayor who brazenly told them to fend for themselves and “build a second floor” to their homes to escape the floods, basically to adjust to the harsh reality.
Faced with such cavalier attitude, surely it’s time to exact accountability from officials elected to serve the public? While investigation into failed flood control projects has led to several lawmakers and contractors charged with graft and plunder, little seems to be done to ensure the continued viability and safety of existing public works and infrastructures. Should officials just wait until they buckle down, like the Agana and the Aquino bridges in Tarlac?
Criminal neglect
The collapse of retaining walls and roads that clearly show the lack of steel girders and standard supports should be raised as criminal neglect against the contractors and project proponents of these substandard structures. Government too must start identifying sites for water retention facilities to prevent the overflow of swollen creeks and rivers
As well, NLEx management should take full responsibility for the hours-long gridlock on the expressway owing to the San Simon floods, considering it had happened before and should have led it to explore more lasting engineering solutions to the perennial flooding.
As irate motorists have pointed out, they pay tolls to ensure a faster trip, proper road maintenance, traffic management, and in times of emergency that necessitate rerouting, proper coordination with local authorities to facilitate matters. In this case, motorists diverted from the flooded expressway found themselves on risky tertiary roads that traversed rice fields and irrigation canals, and some that led to dead-ends.
More logical response
Admittedly, climate change has a lot to do with the spate of storms that dumped more rains than usual in parts of the country, but aggravating factors for the deluge can be traced to human greed and neglect: denuded forests from mining and commercial development, failed flood control projects, waterways silted with garbage and plastic waste.
Instead of turning to Filipino resilience for customary comfort, it may be time to convert that into collective defiance as Cardinal Pablo David has urged in his Facebook post. Time to ask the crucial questions: where did the billions in public works budget go? Who designed and built the structures? What maintenance steps were taken to keep them safe and serviceable? Which politician sponsored what project—and probably pocketed millions from them?
But accountability cuts both ways and citizens must be held responsible as well. Proper garbage disposal, documenting leaks, cracks, and apparent weaknesses in public works and calling government attention to them, and starting a community reforestation campaign are some initiatives that can help.
Still, there’s a simpler, more logical response to these chronic calamities brought on by government incompetence: voting for candidates based on their record of public service. It’s time to replace resilience with long memories over unkept promises and willful neglect.