Pangasinan 2nd District Representative Mark Cojuangco has sparked heated debate online after responding to social media posts showing the devastation left by Typhoon Tino, asserting that residents who live in flood-prone areas “always have a choice.”

The exchange began when Cojuangco commented on a viral video depicting displaced families in a submerged community.

“Bakit kasi sa flood plain gumawa ng tirahan? Takaw sakuna,” the lawmaker wrote, implying that the disaster could have been avoided with better housing decisions.

His remarks drew immediate backlash from netizens who criticized him for being “out of touch” with the realities faced by poor Filipinos.

One commenter replied, “Hindi naman ho kasi lahat afford tumira sa elevated areas and subdivisions. They had no choice!”

The congressman, however, stood firm. “Laging may choice,” Cojuangco wrote.

“You should be angry right now. Engineering and sound reasoning gave way to ‘compassion and kindness’ years ago. Kaya nga nangyari ito. Suck it up and learn, or repeat it all over again later. Choice is ours.”

Several users called the statement insensitive, pointing out that poverty often leaves families with no option but to settle in hazard-prone areas. One netizen wrote, “Choice is a luxury for most people... Hindi laging may choice. This may sound foreign to you because you have choices all your life pero hindi lahat kagaya mo.”

Cojuangco responded by doubling down on his position, saying he was “against choosing that place for housing.”

“It’s a hazardous place,” he wrote. “I am calling it like it is, so that in the future it can be avoided. Unless you want to elevate the entire area by four meters at least — so do it if it makes economic sense.”

When another user replied with a meme saying, “Stop being poor,” the congressman answered, “Yes! This is a very noble goal. It is Deng who said, ‘To be rich is glorious.’ Look at China now! Right attitude, right thinking, right action. Avoid hazardous areas, or suffer disasters.”

The lawmaker’s remarks come as thousands of families across the Visayas and Northern Mindanao reel from the impacts of Typhoon Tino, which caused widespread flooding and landslides.

While some social media users agreed with Cojuangco’s emphasis on urban planning and risk awareness, many criticized what they saw as a lack of empathy from a public official at a time of tragedy.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported that thousands remain in evacuation centers as relief and rehabilitation efforts continue.