Pointing fingers

On the morning after the landslide in Tinaan, City of Naga, Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong specifically said to reporters not to point fingers at whom to blame for the tragedy.

The landslide that happened in Sitio Sindulan killed more than 20 and the death toll continues to rise as operations become intermittent due to the operational procedures and weather factors. Family members evacuated are shaking in fear unsure of what their life will be after the whole incident settles down.

But who is to blame, really? When a common person is asked, the only thing on top of their head is quarrying. The City of Naga has been known to be as industrialized as it is because of the heavy extraction of minerals and other natural resources to be used as raw materials for construction. In this case cement. When the landslide happened, the company given mining rights to the area immediately raised their hands and said that there isn’t any more quarrying operation in the area.

So, does it mean that it isn’t the reason for it? The Mines and Geosciences bureau also couldn’t say what caused it, at least for now. Although they have said that they already made an assessment to immediately vacate the area, it was already too late. Well, everything is already late. The governor just ordered suspension of all the mining and quarry activities in the province. Wow, just now? Remember former environment secretary Gina Lopez? Didn’t she say the same thing?

I have met her a couple of times, in and out of the company that I’m in. She seems so sure of her advocacies, and it turns out she was right all along. Too sad that she isn’t in government now, they have become all her enemies. She can now easily say: “I told you so.”

I don’t know how hard it is to balance between business interests and the state when seated in government. But conscience will tell you what your priorities are. Is it the lives of the people at stake, or your desire to gain money and power? Now that the death toll continues to rise for the Naga landslide, nobody wants to take the blame.

I sympathize with those who lost a loved one in the tragedy. It would be hard to keep on living every day and remembering the sights and sounds of that disaster, all because regulation didn’t feel real as it was supposed to be. There are lessons that we need to learn and relearn from this tragedy, those that need to be taken seriously.

Prayer can move mountains now for a miracle to happen. There is still a possibility that there is life underneath the rubble. Oxygen and food supply will be the greatest challenge, but more important is a heart that would keep on beating despite the tragedy. Let us all be steadfast and pour in whatever we can to help the people of Naga.