Politics has no place in disasters

Politics has no place in disasters | Daily Tribune

As aftershocks continue to shake the South, one cannot help but lament what appears to be a seeming lack of urgency in the government’s response. Sure, the DSWD, DoTr, DPWH, DILG, the AFP, the OCD and other agencies have mobilized, but the scale and magnitude of the disaster demands swift, decisive action from all fronts — not the half-measures and photo-ops that have characterized the early response thus far.

There has been no declaration of a state of calamity or emergency from the Palace to facilitate the mobilization of rescue and response from the national level.

In a country prone to natural disasters, such shortcomings are not mere oversights; they reflect deeper institutional weaknesses exacerbated by chronic political distraction. Once again, the Filipino people — especially those outside Metro Manila — pay the price for a government more invested in power plays than in effective governance. The endless Marcos-Duterte feud continues to consume Imperial Manila.

While rescue teams and local governments scramble with limited resources, the national officials remain preoccupied with the theater of political survival in the capital.

The shifting alliances and dramatic hearings in the Senate have dominated headlines and legislative calendars. Privilege speeches, leaked videos and accusations of Charter change plots fill the airwaves while Mindanao reels from the devastation.

Senate sessions that should address disaster preparedness and emergency funding instead serve as arenas for score-settling. Meanwhile, the same House that can fast-track impeachment complaints is now slow to mobilize the enactment of supplemental budgets to streamline aid for the people of Mindanao.

Real, urgent ordinary people’s concerns have again been sidelined, while the Marcos administration prioritizes optics over substance. Senators continue to trade barbs and administration officials manage narratives around the Vice President’s impeachment trial while displaced families in Mindanao huddle in makeshift shelters, uncertain about their future, and left wondering if and when help will ever come.

Mindanao’s vulnerabilities — poverty, inadequate infrastructure, historical neglect — amplify the disaster’s impact. Even as aftershocks persist, the rest of the country is fed more drama from the capital rather than transparent updates on the damage assessment and relief operations.

The 8 June Mindanao earthquake requires a demonstration of this administration’s capacity for compassion. Mindanao may be Duterte country and it’s one thing to make that mistake during the midterm elections in May 2025.

But President Bongbong Marcos should know better than to let politics get in the way of disaster response — especially not after a disaster of this magnitude. A lesson well-learned by the Benigno Aquino III administration in the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda that struck Tacloban in Eastern Visayas (the political bailiwick of the Romualdezes) in November 2013.

There is no better time than now for PBBM to show that he is not only president of Luzon and Visayas but also of Mindanao. If they require political justification to act, the Marcos administration could just think of the cost to send immediate help and rebuild Mindanao as an investment for the May 2028 elections.

Makes one wonder if the urgency of the government’s response would be any different had the disaster hit closer to “home?”