Something must be said about why coming home from a foreign trip has felt a little bit deflating for some time now. Instead of feeling the joy of homecoming, the excitement is lost once met with a drab airport where supposed displays showcasing the colorful and diverse Filipino culture remain empty and unfinished (yes, many years later), and the street lights, even on major highways, are still dim and uninspiring.

The brilliant beauty that is supposed to stun at least first-time visitors is nowhere to be found. From the dreary Ninoy Aquino International Airport to the madness of the traffic that has been our bane forever, Manila greets this loyal citizen without the vaunted Filipino cheer.

These days, that natural joie de vivre of our race and culture may well be gone, knowing now how the public trust has been severely and systematically abused, possibly over decades.

Those who travel to other Asian countries would know that public transport, for one, is easy, convenient and seamless out there. You can rack up 10,000 steps a day and not mind the walking because public spaces are well-kept, replete with interesting spots infused with local flavor. Roads are clean, and crossing them is never “buwis buhay” (very risky), as we say in the local parlance.

Japan, one of the Philippines’ strongest supporters for development, is an example of what happens when the government works for the people’s welfare. The country that gave us the technology for boring the tunnels to build our subway system has another engineering marvel that addresses a problem that many countries now face because of climate change.

It is why the “Floodgate” scandal rocking our country now is even more painful, seeing how Japan’s leadership clearly puts its country and people first --- indeed never running out of innovative solutions using their technological knowhow.

So our leaders can discuss disaster and risk management until they froth at the mouth, but nothing quite like Tokyo’s “floodwater cathedral” has ever been seen on our shores.

Reports on this humongous flood management system reveal that it took Japan decades of planning to build something of this scale. Like the Philippines, their country also has to deal with yearly typhoons, torrential rains and massive floods.

The difference, however, is that they actually spent the time and resources to build something that today amazes not just ordinary Juans like us, but even experts in the field of disaster management.

A BBC report in November 2018 quoted disaster expert Miki Inaoka of the Japan International Cooperation Agency: “Even in the 1950s and 1960s, when the Japanese were recovering from the war, the government was investing 6-7 percent of the national budget on disaster and risk reduction.”

The funding meant for the structures actually went to the projects, and that, our dear naïve citizens, is why our minds bleed to know billions of pesos meant for flood control projects had gone to some people’s pockets instead, their homes overflowing with luxury, their trips around the globe not even giving them a wee bit of desire to help make their own country as progressive and well-maintained as those others they enjoy.

Over the decades since the problem with corruption has brought Filipinos to the streets crying foul, we find ourselves back there. Again. Millions have become billions, and cracks have become gaping holes in a stinking system we allow to flourish because people couldn’t care less.

Who is going to fix it? Who is going to take up the gauntlet and ensure that this latest rot will be eviscerated, along with the soulless horde who played us false?