Didn’t we just have a major calamity?

I do not quite understand why after Milenyo had left us with so much cleaning up to do, we are still sitting pretty over the weekend, doing nothing. Don’t we have a lot to do?

As you drive through major highways, streets, and villages of Metro Manila, you will notice all the debris that Milenyo had left us. These are mostly trees that have been uprooted by the storm. Of course, there are also leaves, tree branches, small roofs (or GI sheets) and wooden (or metal) posts. The citizenry have done their duty of cleaning up their areas or what we may call their "personal space". Now it is time for the barangays or the national disaster team to pick up the mess. But where are they? They are nowhere to be found. You cannot even spot a soul cleaning up any of the mess. Is it because on Saturdays there is no work for the government personnel? I thought Milenyo is considered a national calamity — so shouldn’t we be working on an emergency alert situation?

I notice that a day after Milenyo had left many Metro Aides and barangay people were around cleaning up the islands of the road; however, as they were cleaning up, all they had with them were the national "walis" and dustpan with a sako. I did not see any wood cutter to cut the big chunks of wood into little pieces. How pathetic naman. No wonder the trees have not been pruned for a long time. We are not conscious of gardening at all in our country. No landscaping efforts whatsoever.

So, should we blame the MMDA for all these again? I don’t think so… Each local government must surely have their own landscaping team who should have complete gardening tools. So, where are they? It is sad to say it but it seems that the wife of Mr. MMDA seems to be the only mayor conscious of cleaning up her landscape. Yes, Mayor Marides Fernando has an energetic Landscape Team who takes care of all the tress and plants in the city. They seem to be the only ones working 24 hours, round the clock.

As I have said earlier, the clean up team were present for the first 3 days, but after that they seem to have vanished? Hey come back! There is still a lot of work to be done. You just swept the streets and then disappeared. How come? Your job is not yet done. You forgot to throw what you have swept in the dump truck. In fact, the poor basurero will not be able to carry the huge tree trunks without you cutting the trunk into smaller pieces? Ano naman pag-iisip yan? Don’t you remember it is Dengue season? If you keep these debris lying around for days the area is bound to encourage the infestation of the bad mosquito killers. Is this how a barangay leader thinks? Is this how the barangay councilors direct their people? If this is the case, I rest my case… You need to be educated. You cannot just win by popularity then. What will happen to our barangays if most captains have no sophistication to address the publics’ needs, safety and protection? Mind you there are only a few good barangay leaders in this country who can seem to make a change.

Remember the poor little boy who was shot a few weeks ago when he climbed the Meralco post? Who shot that boy? It was allegedly a barangay captain who was drunk. Can you imagine that?

I had a personal encounter with a barangay captain (not in the Greenhills area mind you) in a nearby province who came to my rescue drunk. We had lunch together so that I could narrate to him the problems I was experiencing in the area. As we were talking I noticed how red his neck was. He even had a faint smell of beer in his breath. Can you imagine a government official already drinking even before lunch time on a weekday? I know I am naïve, this is nothing new.

I always believe that the people we chose to lead us should in one way or the other be educated and cultured. I know I may sound discriminating but having a good leader equipped with the proper armor of knowledge, culture, virtues and principles is the key to a good society.

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Election time is fast approaching – we must now make a better judgment of choosing good leaders. We should also guide and direct our house helps and their families, our employees their families to decide on who they should vote for. If we leave everything to popularity – nothing will happen. We should have a criterion in choosing our leaders.

Oh! By the way, can the Commission on Elections have some ruling as early as now as to where campaign stickers and banners can be placed? I hope all candidates who break the rules can be penalized with a subsequent amount (of about P20,000 to P50,000 per area) for pasting their faces on the walls of public and private places.

Naku naman after the elections some three years ago, we still saw many streamers and posters of the candidates running for that election even if the cleaning up period was already over. So, who should monitor these activities? I think the candidates must have the decency to be responsible for their campaign banners with their faces on them. Stop hanging your streamers on the PLDT or Meralco lines naman. Also, stop pasting posters on the wall. If anyone pastes his or her poster on my wall without permission I will cry it out loud. And I think you (the public) must do so as well. Don’t you know that the act of posting things on public walls or private property is called vandalism? The act of vandalism is a crime and you should pay for such act. Do you know that after one vandalizes, money is spent in cleaning up or repainting of those walls? It is about time we run after these "hotsy patutsies" who have such Herculean Complex.

Whatever! I pray that the Commission on Elections will do a good job this coming election period – if there will ever be one! I hope they start their work early and will not cram in the last minute.

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I know how hard the PLDT and Meralco people worked to restore the telephone lines and electricity in our homes. Thank you sooo much! And I also know that when such crisis occurs, all your office phones are busy. I just was wondering if during such "panic" situations, you can remove your regular automated voice system and directly pick up the phone? If the line is busy, I think it is better than having to go through the round about of choosing certain features or keys to get to customer service. Just a suggestion!

In its aftermath, Milenyo has surely brought us many challenges that I hope we will all remember. God has once again awakened our spirits.