Twelve years ago, a devastating earthquake hit Bohol on 15 October 2013. Barely a month after, super typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) struck Eastern Visayas — the strongest typhoon ever recorded in the world at the time.

Then last month (also October), the Philippines was rocked by a series of strong quakes in Cebu and Davao. This was followed a month later by another strong typhoon, “Tino.” Even as “Tino” weakens as it progresses through the Philippine area of responsibility, another low-pressure area south of Guam has developed into a tropical depression and is threatening to become a category 5 super typhoon whose current track shows it might hit the northern Philippines.

The Philippines can’t seem to catch a break. It’s just one catastrophe after another. The year 2025 has really seen the Philippines at its worst.

What began as political bickering in the once united administration of running mates President Bongbong Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte led to the (now rendered invalid) impeachment of the latter and resulted in the rendition of former president Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

It was no surprise that in the midterm elections, the administration’s slate did not fare well.

Such divisiveness, in hindsight, perhaps signaled the downward spiral of our nation under the wavering leadership and political instability that has, sadly, been the legacy thus far of the Marcos Jr. administration.

And in the aftermath of the flooding following the weather disturbances, President Marcos himself brought to light anomalies in the government’s flood control projects in his State of the Nation Address (SoNA).

Which was well and good until the investigation into the flood control mess took a life of its own, exposing the corruption that cast a net so wide it almost brought down the government. We saw changes in the leadership of both houses of Congress in an attempt to sweep aside the crumbs that lead to the Palace.

But instead of bringing about true accountability and genuine reform, the public has been kept in the dark. Their ravenous appetite for news kept at bay with regular updates and press releases on the probe left to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).

The unscrupulous pillaging of our coffers by greedy, heartless government officials had resulted in the massive malversation of funds that otherwise could have been put to better use to improve education, health, social services, and infrastructure.

Meanwhile, our country has sunk to its lowest. Even as we take over the chairmanship of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), we have failed to negotiate for better tariffs with the United States — despite the Philippines being its most significant and strategic military partner in the ASEAN.

Our economy has suffered