Typhoon Ruby cleanses path for Pope Francis

In the bible and other ancient scriptures like the Noble Quran, water represents not just life but a way of cleansing oneself. In the deluvian story as narrated in the Book of Genesis, instead of fire, which consumes whatever it touches, God used water, a similar strong apocalyptic force yet instead of consummation, water actually cleanses.

Typhoon Ruby turned from a super typhoon into a mere tropical depression the minute she landed in Laiya in Batangas. Accurate rendition by the Pagasa made everyone feel safe.

Another storm is coming. If we are as prepared as what happened in the Ruby case, then, all will be fine.

Honestly, this is all we expect government to do for us---muster enough courage, gather all its resources to make us safe.

Now, I can't seem to shake off the idea that Typhoon Ruby was caused by God. Ruby went in a similar fashion like Yolanda, albeit, with minimal effects. Seems like Ruby was created to make way for Pope Francis? Was it God's way of cleansing the places of desolation which Yolanda wrought?

What that Esquire cover of Mar Roxas wants to hide

For my take on that Esquire cover of Mar Roxas, see previous blog entry and there is another take at http://www.theilustrado.com.

There is now a conscious effort by this administration to brush off the stains of neglect and mismanagement which attended the post-tragedy relief and rehab work. What happened to the 73 billion pesos pledged by foreign donors? Where did they spend the initial 17 billion pesos of donations?

Mar--we do not forget what you told Tacloban mayor Alfred Romualdez at the height of this tragedy. Let us watch this. This is what Mar and his handlers want us to forget.

What Mar said in his meeting with Romualdez encapsulated or punctuated the very nature of government rehab efforts--that, even in tragedies, politics exists.

Typhoon Yolanda a year later and when Binay and Noynoy skipped

Seems that two of the highest government officials of the land have conveniently "skipped" their expected appointments yesterday---Vice president Jejomar Binay did not go to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing for fears of being "put into a gutter fight" with three of the Senate's blue jean mobsters--Senators Antonio Trillanes, Alan Peter Cayetano and Koko Pimentel who, if you"ll take a serious look at them---they all have a personal axe to grind against Binay.

President Benigno S. Aquino III meanwhile "skipped" Tacloban and went elsewhere, just as survivors of Typhoon Yolanda are preparing for the commemoration of that tragedy that left almost 18,000 dead, thousands more injured and thousands left homeless.

That devastating typhoon put the Philippines once more in the international map. Several foreign countries collectively put aside over 78 billion pesos, enough to rehabilitate Leyte and the rest three times over--yet until now, the place has barely changed.

The scars of the tragedy are still there. People are still experiencing emotional stress and pain, something which our government should have addressed long before, but still failed. There are still lots of things to do, lots of things to build and very many things to restructure.

We still haven't learned. Our government remains direction-less inspite of several years and several tragedies that happened during the last ten years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTbhAp7kpPU

Yolanda's effects in the Philippine economy being felt right now

Government just released the first quarter economic figures and tells us that the economy only grew by about 5%. This is 2 or 2.5% lower than what government predicted a year ago.

Neda figures show that the economy was really affected by the devastation by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) which took about 26 billion pesos out of our economy last year.

The agricultural sector grew less than 1%, while the services sector grew by nearly 7% and the industrial just by 5.5%. This figure is dismal and disappointing especially to many who hope that this country would sustain its record of being the region's fastest growing economy.

The Philippines now lags Malaysia and China. China remains the fastest growing followed by Malaysia.

The impending rebellion

Just what I wrote several months ago, the neglect that the government did in Yolanda-ravaged areas in the Visayas will surely spill over into other areas, especially in Metropolitan areas such as Manila. Various estimates put the damage at 64 billion pesos yet the human dimension of this tragedy remains unquantifiable. The daily suffering and toil of the people will eventually turn into a movement, and this movement will eventually appear before us like a humongous ghost of destructive and revolutionary proportions.

The lack of a blueprint is taking its toil on the people. The entire area has been carved into fiefdoms by numerous families, wanting to get a share of the precious real estate which prices have suddenly become extremely cheap. These family corporations, composed of those being managed by the elites of this country, want nothing more than seize the real estate for their own. They cloak this with such salubrious words as "AID", but in reality, their intentions are simply focused on merely turning these areas into veritable markets for their services and goods. They see these people as nothing more than statistics and consumers to add to their sales invoices.

Eventually, this problem will transform itself naturally into a human one. A new insurgency will spring out from this or worse, syndicalism will arise if the needs of these people remain unmet.

Leyte Rehabilitation--where is the blueprint?

Government wants to help 33,000 families cope with surviving a super typhoon. The question is--where is the blueprint?

DSWD secretary Dinky Soliman accused the United Nations of securing billions of pesos worth of donations for the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda. Yet, those billions are not being used right now.

The question that we pose to Ms. Soliman is this---where is the blueprint?

Government should be the ones to act like a conductor of an orchestra. The problem is--this orchestra tends to sound like a death metal band. Government should do its job of coordinating all groups and sectors under ONE PLAN of rehabilitation.

Rehab czar Panfilo "Ping" Lacson should enhance his job performance. He should be given more power.

Rebellion to worsen in the Visayas due to neglect and corruption

I will not be surprised if a rebellion just suddenly strikes at the very heart of this Nation. History shows how Filipinos rise in revolt after a natural calamity. I am not surprised if my fellow Warays rise in revolt against what the elites are doing in Leyte and other Typhoon Yolanda-stricken provinces.

Look at what is happening there---it is like government and these greedy politicians are kicking a dead horse. Survivors of Yolanda are finding it extremely hard to live, what with a very frickle weather and the absence of necessary resources to live a decent life.

Thousands of families are still without decent source of water. Thousands experience hunger every day. Worse, some politicians are seeing dollar signs in this tragedy.

Who would have thought of making a quick buck on those bunk houses? Imagine, these people are suffering every single day due to incessant rains in their areas and also suffer from the heat of the sun and all these politicians think are ways on how to make millions out of international donations and public funds?

I would not be surprised if the ranks of the New People's Army swell in the Visayas, a traditional hotbed of revolutionary recruits due to the continued ineptitude of government and the graft and corruption now rearing its ugly head above a cursed terrain.

Leyte bunkhouses--overpriced and sub-standard

Who is this politician who reportedly tried to make a fast buck at the expense of Typhoon Yolanda survivors? This politician allegedly want to capitalize on the tragedy by selling sub-standard construction materials. The DPWH is the agency tasked in constructing bunk houses as temporary shelters for the survivors of the tragedy. Now, they're in the middle of a maelstrom that threatens this administration.

Rehabilitation czar Panfilo "Ping" Lacson told DPWH secretary Babes Singson about the controversy. Lacson wants to know the real score.

Like I said in my previous posts, Lacson may be in for a nightmare when he accepted this job. Those who think that this is his one way ticket to the presidency, think again. This may be the curse of his entire career as a public servant.

Worse, the whole world is watching. This is another black eye for the country.

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.