Max Roxas remarks reminds us how politically sensitive relief efforts are

Yep, DILG secretary Mar Roxas said that infamous quip at the time of relief efforts. And yes, the remark is laden with political undertones. What is so wrong with that?

As they say, the truth will eventually come out. Did the national government helped in relief efforts? Yes, they did. Did the national government bungled its job? Yes, they also did. The United Nations pointed that out, and Anderson Cooper, and very strongly in fact.

Did the national government warned of an impending disaster? Yes, they did. Did they prepare the entire bureaucracy for the effects of its aftermath? No, they did not. Defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin admitted that much.

The thing is---nobody or no strong national government is that prepared for that scale of a disaster. We all watched how Yolanda swept entire communities away, of how strong her winds are, and of how virulent her rains were. That kind of supertyphoon will definitely kill generations. And she did.

This Youtube video shows that clearly, Mar Roxas told Tacloban mayor Romualdez of the real complexion of relief efforts here in the Philippines--that even in helping those affected by a natural disaster, political sensitivities are still considered.

Nothing wrong with telling the truth--yet editing this video is defnitely an unacceptable sin. Well, I do understand since the one who uploaded this is no other than, Jose Mari Gonzales, father of Cristina Gonzales, wife of Mayor Romualdez.

The question is--did we prepare enough? No, we did not. Is that a monumental sin? No, because no one is really prepared in these kinds of disasters.

Do we expect this government to provide everything in such a disaster? Yes, that is why, no government would ever satisfy the expectations of the public. We all think we have the monies to finance such a monumental enterprise. We all know where all our monies went---to graft and corruption anyway.

The thing really is this--did we give our best in relief efforts? Probably yes.

The most vile thing really is--were our actions laced with the poison of politics? Yes, government actions were, because the Powers-That-Be was looking for scapegoats. Tacloban mayor Romualdez is one.

Romualdez, frankly, really failed as a mayor of Tacloban. He tries to hide this blatant fact by raising hell against Mar Roxas. The thing here is this---if he did his job, then, why are our kabayans leaving his city? This shows that people are not confident of how things are being run in their own city. And the mayor is clearly responsible.

What Mar Roxas did is show us how politically sensitive even relief efforts are.

It makes you think that the core problem is really politics and its dynamics.