A country that doesn't solve its problems

Allow me to share our happiness with our faithful readers on the joyous arrival of our third grandchild Baby Janine Francesca Avila-Tequillo, born to my eldest daughter Dr. Frances Angelique “Fara” Avila-Tequillo and husband, Atty. Jennoh H. Tequillo at 1:30pm at the Cebu Doctors Hospital yesterday. Baby Janine is the 3rd child of Jennoh and Fara with Miquel Enrico (Mico) and Kirsten Erica (Keena). God has indeed showered blessings on Jennoh and Fara and all because they have truly become poor in spirit and rely on the Lord for all that they need and all that they do in their lives.

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I don’t know how many times I must have written this piece since I began to write columns in The Freeman and later with The Philippine Star that if there’s anything gravely wrong with our country today, it is that we do not fix whatever is wrong with our country. A case in point is the EDSA Revolt, which was supposed to “fix” the one man rule of the conjugal Marcos Dictatorship. But let’s ask ourselves, have we really fixed this problem? Despite the years we still haven’t gotten a good system of government!

The latest breaking news in our national consciousness is the supposed return of some P15 billion worth in jewelry to the aging Super Ma’am Imelda Marcos by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). If we printed this particular piece of news 20 years ago, I’m sure that it would result in street marches and violent protests by irate people who believed that Imelda’s jewelry were part and parcel of the supposed Marcos ill-gotten wealth.

It’s no wonder that a few days ago, I read an article that a staunch Marcos loyalist was sorry that Imelda Marcos is now considered “poor” because she ran out of money. Perhaps they should have told this story to the Marines because in my book this is Aesop’s fable, a total fabrication. If and when Imeldific moves to the squatter colonies or the slums of Tondo, then I might believe this to be true.

Perhaps it is time for us to ask the Judiciary especially Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno to release a full accounting of the legal cases filed by the PCGG against the Marcoses so we’ll find out how many have been solved, how many are pending and how long have they languished in our courts of law. If there’s anything we learned from EDSA, it is that it is far easier to ouster a sitting President than file court cases against them. That those cases have been delayed for two decades is injustice in itself.

In another case where we don’t solve our problems, is the report from The Freeman headline that declared that the four families affected by the landslides along Sitio Tipolo, Barangay Guadalupe can now return to their homes. This sort of thing could never happen in the United States. The moment that your location threatens your very existence, the government immediately relocates the affected families to safer ground, whether they like it or not. Alas, this is the Philippines, a country that doesn’t fix its problems.

One principal reason for this is that, we really do not have a true planning and development in this country. A shantytown built without any real lines, no water lines or plumbing fixtures becomes an ugly slum, which should never have been allowed in the first place. Then a huge conflagration destroys the slum and provides the government the golden opportunity either to relocate its residents or rebuilt the area according to certain housing standards. But in this country, the people who lose their homes merely rebuild their houses from the ashes of their old houses. In the end, they are exposed to the very same threat that destroyed their homes.

This reminds me of what Barbara Tuchman used to say, “Those who forget their history is doomed to repeat them.” How true! I will believe that this country can move forward when we elect leaders who has the vision to make a better community out of our present one. It is a difficult task that needs something that few politicians have, that thing called “Political will.”

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Okay, so now the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the H1N1 a “Pandemic” as there are already 29,000 plus cases with 144 deaths worldwide. The Department of Health (DoH) has issued statements for people not to panic but in truth, it is the DoH that seems to be on panic mode! Not that it’s wrong to panic, but how I wish that the DoH had the same “Panic mode” when they deal with the dreaded Dengue Fever, which has resulted in more deaths to our children than the H1N1 virus. If only the DoH prioritized Dengue, perhaps we’d have a lower Dengue mortality rate.