Lethal mix: empty farmers’ stomachs, leaders who don’t know hunger

Shame on the Aquino administration. In any other democratic country, what happened in Kidapawan would be considered more than sufficient reason for the head of government to step down.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza should have been grounded immediately for incompetence. She’s not fit for public service. Her own words damn her: “The funds are here but we have to follow process. In fact, we are about to distribute rice to them in the coming days…”

She’s numb and dumb. These are hungry people asking for help from their government. In a state of calamity—and drought is a calamity—it can’t be process or procedure over the people’s urgent needs. The people’s hunger overrides protocol.

Still Mendoza added: “Why did it take so long? Because we have to validate who are our constituents.” Does that mean that the governor will give nothing to a hungry farmer who is not from North Cotabato? This would be the height of callousness. Besides she had since late last year to assess the situation and adapt measures to alleviate the farmers’ plight.

And our President? Where was he? Where is he? Vigorously campaigning for his heredero and blasting away at the opposition candidates yet lamely waiting for the results of the official inquiry before even commenting.

It is patent that the insensitive governor and our self-righteous president both do not know what hunger is! Let us pray they’d understand when the people’s anger comes. The country is in dire straits. We are living in dangerous times. Clueless leadership and the farmers’ hunger make for a possibly lethal combination.

Joachim Ronneberg, the 96-year-old Norwegian hero who bested Adolf Hitler, reminded us recently that ours “is not a stable world” and that “it ought to be obvious to people that peace and freedom have to be fought for.”

—WILFREDO T. DULAY, Solidarity Philippines, [email protected]