HOTSPOT
As I write this, a tropical storm continues to inundate huge parts of Luzon, with water volume and floods never before experienced in many areas. The impacted area is so huge, the impact so profound, and millions affected that it is quite certain that Kristine (international name: Trami) would be long remembered, despite not being a supertyphoon.
The many graphic photos and videos from Bicol, Southern Tagalog, Cagayan Valley and Ilocandia may seem familiar to those of us used to typhoons and floods, but what the people there say compels us to pause. They are saying, we’ve never seen or experienced anything like this. We’ve never been flooded here. We’ve never had rains this much.
Exactly how the millions affected would cap or survive this year is uncertain. That this calamity happened at the start of the election cycle is both good and bad. The traditional politicians and political dynasties’ election campaigns may add extra levels of enthusiasm and resources to relief and rehabilitation. Some face a test of how they use their political and economic prowess for the public’s benefit.
National and local government officials cannot just summon the mantra of “resilience.” They know fully well that this will have an impact on the economic indicators. Those running either for reelection or for a political comeback, may find their political paths changed drastically.
This is apparent in some political quarters who lionize certain politicians while at the same time wittingly and unwittingly lecture on their favorite traditional political hobby of blaming the electorate as they stand on the shoulders of the same electorate who are the disaster victims.
Just like many, I’m also furious by the lack of meaningful change in how the government prepares for, or even perceives so-called natural disasters, and the related concerns about climate change and disaster mitigation. But witnessing so-called fandoms of “better” or “good” politicians use the disaster to promote their political leaders running for office, and at the expense of perceived political rivals, was something else.
Political scientist Cleve Arguelles put them in their proper place with this post: “Leaders who don’t show up in times of need are bad. Period. Blaming voters for not electing the ‘right’ leaders misses the point. It's never easy in a country like ours, and pointing fingers at voters is just rather unproductive. The competition is rigged against ordinary voters— I wish it's just as easy as picking the ‘good leaders’. Many face a limited pool of poor choices, fear defying, if not reliant on, political networks, and are otherwise challenged surviving or even resigned to the daily grind. Politics is messy because our people are in many ways unfree in an unequal society like ours. The idea of an all-powerful, all-free voter who can magically fix the system with a vote is a fairytale. Punch up, not down— our people are drowning.”
It is a pithy and profound reminder that things are not as simple as some of us would like to think. For indeed, our friends can only refer and defer to one mayoral candidate. They have no such candidate in many other cities and municipalities, not even in Metro Manila. Our people are not spoiled of choice if ever the mythical “intelligent voter” wakes up and chooses to vote out the bad and an entire system we so often describe as rotten and rigged, if such fantasy is even possible.
All these remind me of a post by a Community Pantry volunteer that went viral recently. It tells of a jeepney driver who refused his fare, despite the volunteer’s insistence and surprise. It was only after the driver explained why that he stopped insisting on paying.
The jeepney driver said (and this is a paraphrase): I remember you. You were at the pantry. You gave us food when we needed it the most during the pandemic. I have not forgotten and I never will.
Today, millions of ordinary people like that jeepney driver and his family are waiting for the storm to leave, to clean up, and to rebuild their lives. The moment we lose sight of the object of our affection and action, we lose our way.
Now’s the time to help. Be a volunteer. Organize your own relief drive and link up with others. Donate: Caritas Caceres (BDO, 001898018432), Caritas Manila (Metrobank, 175-3-17506954-3), Community Pantry PH (GCash, 09451454390), Angat Buhay (BPI, 0011-1921-65), ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya (PNB, 1263-7000-4128), GMA Kapuso Foundation (LandBank, 4781-0138-33), and others.