Incompetence made worse by indifference (1)

The disconnect between the rhetoric of Malacañang and the stark reality on the streets has become too vast to hide behind another round of carefully staged photo ops and bravado.

The flood control scandal is not an isolated case of greed. It is a symbol of a broader malaise that has defined the Marcos administration’s tenure. Inflation continues its relentless assault on the Filipino household, transforming the palengke into a place of quiet despair.

Fuel prices climb with a regularity that is almost punitive, squeezing the jeepney drivers and delivery riders alike. Wages remain stagnant, jobs are precarious, and the promise of a “Bagong Pilipinas” rings increasingly hollow to those who are simply trying to survive.

The public has not forgotten (and should never forget) that the floodwaters are not unforeseeable acts of God but a consequence of insatiable greed and a culture of impunity.

The recent revelations of kickbacks and ghost projects in the government’s flood control program have done more than expose systemic corruption. They have confirmed that our hard-won democracy and freedom from the oppression of the martial law years under the Marcos Sr. administration have only made way for a government where the state coffers have been repurposed as private ATMs for politicos and their minions.

Never mind if their vanity and avarice have left millions and their homes at the mercy of raging floodwaters while our treasury is plundered dry, leaving the nation drowning in debt.

The ritual of a political apology — the press conference, the furrowed brow, the feigned indignance and the promise of an investigation and prosecution — is just another season with limited episodes playing in the long-drawn-out political zarzuela that is Philippine politics.

It used to be that those who “dabbled” in corruption at least held back and tempered their greed lest they attract too much attention and get caught. But today, the magnitude of the flood control scandal has gone over and beyond. And this is only what has been made known to the public so far.

Food for thought: The impunity shown by the politicians complicit in the flood control corruption may actually rival (or be even worse) than the culture of impunity demonstrated by the extrajudicial killings (EJK) in furtherance of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

If the EJK constituted triable crimes against humanity, what about the culture of impunity in the execution of corruption schemes under this administration?

To even think it, more so to utter such words out loud, is almost blasphemous and could only invite the law enforcement community to bring its entire weight down on you. And it should be no surprise how a particular fatigue has settled over our nation with the realization that its leaders are not only incompetent and indifferent to their suffering and despair but are more concerned with escaping accountability.

The floodwaters, and the anger that has come with it, remain unabated. Hopefully, this time, no amount of political choreography, catchy soundbites and positive optics will keep the people from asking, come election time, who let the floodwaters in, who did nothing about it and, worse, who profited while they drowned in despair and hopelessness.

(To be continued)