In his "Hot Manila" social media page, veteran journalist Alan Robles has this to say on one reason why flooding in Metro Manila and elsewhere remains a perennial issue:
"Manila floods badly because people toss garbage into the streets, toss garbage into the waterways, and elect garbage into office."
In San Pedro City, Laguna, a river that had just been dredged by a major corporation last year as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts became clogged once again after heavy rains pummeled Luzon last August.
Imagine my surprise and shock upon seeing photos shared by the local government on social media, showing the massive amount of garbage that clogged into a major bridge.
Luckily, flooding at that river never breached the former levels it had reached during heavy flooding (including the infamous experience we had had during “Ondoy” in 2009, when appliances at a major grocery chain right next to the river floated when the floodwaters breached the store).
Much, much, much has been said about flood-control, the trillions of pesos that apparently went into the pockets of corrupt politicians, the effects of which millions of Filipinos still suffer from even as climate change pushes our weather systems to the extreme.
But here’s a bitter pill which we Filipinos should all swallow: in a way, kasalanan din naman natin lahat itong nangyayari sa atin.
“We toss garbage into the streets, toss garbage into the waterways.”
Minsan, kahit pa may trash bag o trash bin na malapit, ang gawi lagi ng ilan sa atin e itatapon na lang sa daan o sa kanal ang pinagkainan o yung bote ng softdrink.
I think this “burara” habit stems from the universal treatment of waste as a burden to get rid of.
Okay, Tagalugin ko na nga: kapag basura na ang isang bagay, itinuturing na natin itong hindi na natin concern. Hindi na natin problema. Bahala na si Batman kung magbara man sa ilog o madulas ang ibang tao sa pinagbalatang saging. Basta, wala na tayong paki.
Unfortunately, that kind of selfishness sometimes bleed into our political and social thinking.
And this is where I believe Mr. Robles’ last statement, “we elect garbage into office,” comes into play.
We treat elections, governance, as something that is not our problem – that is, until we need it. Wala tayong paki kung hindi qualified o halatang nais lamang maging dorobo ng pulitiko. Wala tayong paki kung hindi niya naibibigay ang serbisyong hinihingi ng ibang mamamayan sa kanya.
Pero kapag dumating ang sakuna, dumating ang panahong kailangan natin ang mga lider na tunay na kakalinga sa atin, doon natin mare-realize na dapat pala e hindi tayo nagpagoyo sa mabulaklak na pananalita o limandaan na inaabot sa mga campaign rallies. (Ang problema, yung ibang Pilipino, mas pinipiling paikutin ang sariling utak at depensahan ang mga kurakot kaysa umamin na lang sa pagkakamali.)
Picking up the pieces of our irresponsibility is the responsibility of every Filipino. Magsimula naman tayo, hindi lamang sa responsableng pagtatapon ng basura, kundi sa responsableng pagpili ng mga lider natin.
#OpinYon #WeTakeAStand #Flooding