OPINION
We failed better
At this rate, Bongbong does not actually have to defeat flooding. He only has to defeat last year’s flood. What an opponent. His own failure: ‘Ganito na talaga ang buhay natin kahit ano pa ang gawin natin’
The MMDA says there has been a “big improvement” in our sad flood situation. How?
Last year, it was waist-deep in CAMANAVA. Last year, the family lost everything. This year, there was nothing to lose.
The MMDA says they did a very good job, very important. Still, the people in Parañaque: “We had to evacuate our children in the middle of the night.”
There you go. Moving the goalposts. First you wanted government to do its job. Now you want your children to survive it dry?
The pumps were pumping. You were flooded. Both can be true.
Your refrigerator died? Terrible. But last year, the refrigerator and TV. This year, refrigerator only. Fifty-percent improvement in appliances. Where is the thank you?
Please stop posting those dramatic videos. People walking through floods. Children. Cars floating. Nobody uploads the millions of cars that did not float. Think about that: millions. Beautifully parked.
At this rate, Bongbong does not actually have to defeat flooding. He only has to defeat last year’s flood. What an opponent. His own failure: “Ganito na talaga ang buhay natin kahit ano pa ang gawin natin” (That’s our life no matter what we do).
Mr. President? What kind of boss talks like that? Sir, show some support. What an extraordinary sentence after an extraordinary bill.
Because you said last year that over P500 billion had been spent on flood control since 2022.
If nothing can really be done, why did we spend P500 billion doing it?
Nobody appropriated billions in Congress for the National Acceptance Program: “Give us the money and, afterward, your constituents will still flood, but perhaps they will develop a healthier attitude about it.”
You took the money because the promise was: This can be fought.
But forget corruption for a second. Suppose every peso was honestly spent. That’s scarier. Because now you’re telling us we spent P500 billion correctly and this was the result?
“Ganito na talaga.” That is supposed to be the sentence of the powerless. The water comes, we get another beautiful word: Resilience.
Give Filipinos any national problem long enough, and eventually they will turn government failure into a household skill.
Brownout? Candles. Water interruption? Igib. Traffic? Leave at 5 a.m. Prices go up? Buy less.
That isn’t resilience; we have simply become fantastic at workarounds that Bongbong is asking us to take a little farther: “Iipunin natin ang tubig-baha para sa darating na tagtuyot” (Let’s save the floodwater for the coming dry season).
Where? In our house? Of course. Perhaps this is the final form of Filipino resilience. First we learned to survive the flood. Then we learned to rebuild after the flood. Then we were praised for surviving the flood. And now, apparently, we should save the flood.
Perhaps the nicest thing Bongbong could ever do for Filipino resilience is to make us need a little less of it.
Instead, they give a speech about our strength. First they fail you, then they congratulate themselves for how well you handled being failed.
Then they steal that too.