A turtle paced response to the people’s misery

Do you sometimes get that sinking feeling when you realize you were wrong on earlier predictions and optimism? There are times when I am glad to realize I was wrong in my first assertions. There are times, however, that I am saddened to be wrong. This is one of those times. When being proven wrong was just another unhappy realization about how much is wrong in our country.

In the wake of the devastation, misery, and death brought by Typhoon Yolanda, I initially wrote how impressed and inspired I was that our government officials rushed to alleviate the suffering the typhoon left in its wake especially in Tacloban City, the center of the eye of the storm. Admittedly, they did rush there right after the storm to lend a helping hand and distribute relief. However, what happened after? How did they sustain these relief efforts?

It’s been six months since the storm and how have things changed? Unfortunately at a snail’s pace. The biggest help was still provided by the private sector that mounted sustainable efforts such as school buildings, factories that provided jobs, and boat building to allow the fishermen of the region to get back to work. But there is still so much to be done. There are still so many areas that do not have basic utilities such as water and electricity.

In fact, as a local paper stated, there are many lawmakers now who are turning their ire and frustration on some members of the Aquino administration tasked to oversee the rehabilitation because of how long it is taking to see any tangible results in bringing the affected provinces back to some semblance of regular life. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman is actually getting the worst of the criticism especially since people are still living in tents or makeshift shelters almost half a year after the tragedy and billions of pesos donated to the cause.

This is truly unacceptable. Not only is it sad to think of how long our countrymen have gone without the basic necessities, but also living in these conditions are not safe. Not only is the heat stifling, but there is the fear of rapidly spreading illness and other hygienic concerns. In fact, it’s very sad, but not surprising that a tent fire that razed one of the makeshift housing tents lasting only a few minutes but killing an entire family. This should not have happened. The government needs to speed up its recovery program to prevent more accidents from happening.

We must remain constantly vigilant and not be content with how slow things are getting done – or not getting done as it were. Our brothers and sisters are still suffering and we can’t just be okay with how slow help is getting to them. In the Philippines we always tend to move on quickly and forget. This can’t be one of those times. Rainy season and typhoon season is fast approaching and so many cities have still not gotten back on their feet much less have begun to prepare for any possible storms in the future.

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The recent news of Janet Lim-Napoles seeking immunity for herself and her family in exchange for baring all about the pork barrel scandal and the lawmakers involved is quite ludicrous. She believes she is the “least guilty” of this heinous crime against everyone in the country when, in fact, I can’t help but feel that she is the guiltiest. She is, after all, the mastermind of the entire operation. She is the one who made it possible for several of our government officials to launder billions of taxpayers’ money into ghost and shell foundations to be used for their own personal purposes.

Why does she think she deserves immunity from prosecution just because she is going to give up the names of everyone involved? And furthermore, why should anyone believe a word she says? Hasn’t she already been caught in far too many lies to truly be reliable? And now that she sees no way out, she’s ready to throw others under the bus to secure her freedom?

This entire situation is becoming a farce. Thankfully, this is happening in the time when people are refusing to just let it go. Her lawyers and spin masters are desperately trying to distract the general public so they can slip in a beneficial plea on Janet’s behalf, but luckily, so far, it has not been working. I think this time the public feels differently. They are not going to allow themselves to be diverted from the issue for too long. They want justice for all the corruption. This time, it’s gone too far.

Whenever we find ourselves in financial dire straits as a country, we can’t help but think about all the money that Janet Napoles and those in league with her wasted on their lavish lifestyles and rich binging parties and luxuries while so many in the country made it through their day with next to nothing. It still makes me sick thinking about it. I say let Napoles and her cohorts rot in jail for the crimes they committed for all those years at the expense of the public.

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I have to admit, there are some things that I highly admire in the politicians in neighboring countries, especially in Japan and South Korea. Perhaps it is also because I am so disillusioned with so many of our leaders here. One thing I have to say I truly admire is the fact that leaders in other countries take responsibility for things when they go wrong. This is something that rarely happens here. Officials tend to pass the buck here refusing to accept the responsibility themselves.

In South Korea, I can’t help but admire President Park Geun-Hye who recently took full responsibility for the mishandling of last month’s Sewol ferry disaster that costs the lives of so many people — most of them students. She has accepted the blame for the incident and has vowed to dismantle the national coastguard and make sure that this type of tragedy never happens again. I think this is a very responsible and grown up attitude to take. It’s hard to accept responsibility when something goes wrong, but a true leader knows where the buck stops and instead of trying to pass the blame. They accept the responsibility and focus their attention on fixing the problem.