Now, ‘Political Storm Binay’

Almost five years to the day Tropical Storm “Ondoy” terrorized my family, Tropical Storm “Mario” followed suit. Like in Ondoy, the deafening downpour Mario brought about was almost too much to endure. Then as it was last Sept. 18, the heavy deluge was terrible to behold as it relentlessly engulfed our street. At the height of Mario, when my family began to realize the full potential of its destructiveness, we looked at each other and saw expressions of panic and hopelessness. Needless to say, we were reliving the traumatic ordeal we and so many of our countrymen went through five years ago.

Thankfully, that experience was the impetus for positive changes. The interim between the two storms afforded the opportunity to make these changes, both private and public, to take effect. For example, even though flood waters rose to alarming levels, this time around renovations kept my family dry inside our home. And the fact that flood waters receded far quicker than before can definitely be attributed to the public ban on plastic bags. Moreover, the collective efforts of broadcast media, weather forecasters and government rescue operations all point to a vast improvement in our overall disaster preparedness.

With our hard-earned lessons from natural disasters, I certainly pray this extends to our political sphere. Because after suffering through the Gloria Arroyo regime, I am hoping we are ready for another impending political catastrophe. I am referring, of course, to a Binay presidency.

The parallelism between Arroyo, Binay, Ondoy and Mario is uncanny. Like Ondoy, the unbridled flood of corruption during the Arroyo administration destroyed the moral fabric of our society. The prevailing culture of impunity then, highlighted by a rain of bullets and blood-soaked graves in Maguindanao, also left most of us feeling dreadful and hopeless. Fast forward years later, and another vice president is eager to take power. Like a potential Mario, as revealed in the recent Senate hearings about overpriced projects in Makati, it would seem that Vice President Jejomar Binay is poised to again inundate the country with corruption. With his penchant of avoiding a direct answer to accusations, coupled with his family’s tendency to push their weight around (security guards beware), Binay seems predisposed to creating a culture of impunity.

Thankfully again, the early political forecasts are in and we can continue to shore up our country. Still, as we hope with any approaching weather disturbance, may Political Storm Binay never make landfall in Malacañang.

—SOLIMAN DELARIARTE,

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