A bundle of issues

After hearing about nothing else but rain and floods, Filipinos once again have a full menu of issues and controversies to confront, learn from or be amused with. Whatever your take or reactions are, I’m sure you have also noticed some of the stuff that caught my eye.

The latest “viral” hit on Facebook has to be the “Direct Assault” done by one Robert Blair Carabuena against MMDA traffic enforcer Tomas Fabros. The first thing that hit the social Richter scale was the strong public reaction to the verbal and physical abuse done by Carabuena against Fabros. While many other “abusive” and “arrogant” individuals have been caught on tape and hounded on Facebook by Netizens, Carabuena’s abuse simply went over the top, perhaps because it reminded many about what bullies do, as well as the fact that it was a two against one situation.

The good I saw in all of this is the fact that Filipinos have become increasingly intolerant of bullies and violent public behavior. They may not step out of their car or stand in between, but they will post and tweet shameless behavior where they see it. Second to that, it is a positive sign how we ultimately recognize and respect authority as well as being compassionate for our lowly paid government employees such as MMDA enforcers and PAGASA employees. We may be far from being truly “civil” in the English context, but as I told one of my Facebook friends, at least there are less and less incidents of killings because of a mistaken look or “masamang tingin.”

According to what I picked up from the news, the father or “parent” of Robert Blair Carabuena belatedly apologized for his sons’ behavior. Much as I appreciate and understand how the parent must have felt, it is also a reminder for all parents that we must raise up our children to learn about authority and consequence. Warnings and reprimands alone are never enough, even without corporal punishment, parents can effectively teach the concept of consequence or they will have to pay the painful price of watching their children hurt someone, kill someone, get killed or end up in jail. In the case of fraternity hazing, two sets of parents now realize the consequence of not being aware or being in control of what goes on in their house or their property. They are now respondents to a homicide or murder case for simply owning the property where the hazing activities took place.

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Things reportedly got heated up between Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino as to why MMDA pumping stations ran out of diesel fuel at the height of the Habagat induced floods. After laying all the blame on one Engineer Val Melgar, MMDA Chairman Tolentino may have some explaining to do as well. I think that Senator Cayetano has received updated reports or claims that the real reason the fuel ran out was because MMDA officials were also remiss in terms of command responsibility or were trying to substantiate claims that the fuel was being stolen. According to one source, what Chairman Tolentino or his subordinate decided to do was to restrict the purchases and supply in order to strictly monitor the fuel consumption of all pumping stations.

Unfortunately, no one expected to have a whole week of rain and floods made worse by high tide. Because the operations of the pumping stations were abnormally extended or running 24/7, the fuel would of course run out. The bad part was that fuel suppliers are not going to deliver high demand products such as diesel without the purchase order and even so, there is a corresponding time lag involved in ordering from the oil company down to the supplier and delivery tanks.

Unfortunately for Engineer “Val Melgar” he was the only head that stuck out and easiest to blame. But now that Senator Cayetano has his mind set on finding out who’s really responsible, Melgar may have his day in the Court of Public Opinion. To be fair to all parties concerned, Senator Cayetano should subpoena or demand that MMDA bosses produce their document tracking records or their log book concerning the quarterly requisitions of Engineer “Melgar” and his subordinate “Dose.” To settle once and for all if Melgar failed to act or requisition properly, or if Chairman Tolentino failed to act or sign the procurement or purchase order in time.

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In the current debate over why the Marikina River floods, suggestions have been made that a) the SM parking structure is partly to blame, b) that Bayani Fernando should be held liable for allowing the structure, C) that Bayani Fernando opposed the construction of a dam above or at the beginning of the upper part of the river.

When I bumped into the former MMDA Chairman and Marikina Mayor, I raised the same issues with him and as always he went straight to the point. Being an engineer, BF immediately pointed to facts and figures. According to him, the Marikina River on the average is 192 meters wide, while the floodway that is on the bottom end is 100 meters wide. In other words, don’t be surprised if the river rises because the water is choked at the floodway. As for the SM structure alongside the river, BF categorically stated that the DPWH had given clearance for the structure and it is not part of the river flow or path.

He may have kept quiet for some time but I suspect that BF may soon come out punching if people don’t stop blaming him for their shortcomings!

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