IT IS THE DUAL ACT OF NATURE AND ACT OF MAN

Laxity, complacency and procrastination of government officials handling the state of affairs in providing appropriate funds for the repair of Water Dams which should have been carried out long time ago, had combined with the heavy rainfall to cause the worst widespread floods that were ever recorded in the annals of the history and the memory of many old-timers. Therefore, it is the dual act of nature and the act of man that cast the fathomless gloom and doom that likely to bring about apocalypse, which no human consciousness can illuminate the extent of the endless darkness that hover the Philippine Archipelago. (see: DUE TO OUR LEADERS’ IRRESPONSIBILITY AND LAZINESS….)

Even the Cemetery in Caba, La Union was not spared by the turbulent waters-- uprooting, tossing around, and sweeping the concrete tombs, graves, coffin and caskets of the dead and literally seen speeding through the current as they were swept away.

'Pepeng' and the waters intentionally released from the San Roque, the Pantabangan, and the Arayat Water Dams leaves more than 337 dead, and a number missing. As of 6 a.m. on Sunday, 489,840 families or around 2.2 million people have been affected. According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) situation report the estimated total damage is at P5.08 billion, including P3.99 billion to agriculture and private property and P1.09 billion to infrastructure.

With the raging floods still far from subsiding as the water dams continues releasing waters, and the feeling of hopelessness at the helplessness and worthlessness (“à-toa,”) of the government which left the flood victims high and dry, the reports say, residents of some towns in Pangasinan who were hungry, thirsty and sick are looking up at the sky, waiting for divine intervention to lift them from their rooftops. With roads impassable all around them, Divine intervention may be their only hope of quick salvation.

Some 150 people in Barangay Baug remain stranded on the rooftops of their homes. Pangasinan authorities admitted they have no other recourse but to pray also for the flood victims. According to the news from Balolong, rescue efforts have been hampered by having only two rubber boats. Worse, rescuers manning these seacraft are exhausted from rescue operations that began Friday, October 9, 2009.

The situation in Urbiztondo reflects the natural forces and the waters intentionally released from the Water Dams arrayed against poorly equipped government officials struggling to save lives and property ravaged by the widespread floods in northern Luzon. The streets in this province have become turbulent rivers tossing around rescue boats like they were bathtub toys, preventing access to untold numbers waiting to be saved. Flood victims are in dire need of rescue and evacuation.

In Benguet, the death toll from landslides rose to 250 while many others remained missing according to the news at ABS-CBN News TV at 6:00 o’clock this morning, Monday, October 12, 2009. Benguet was the hardest hit and even some rescuers trying to pull bodies out of collapsed houses had died. Besides setting off landslides in the mountains, the rain has swollen rivers and reservoirs, forcing Dams used for hydropower and irrigation to release water and causing more flooding in areas downstream.

The Philippine government officials are gradually getting weakened in their ability to govern or administer. They now find themselves overwhelmed by the Country’s cruel experiences of the widespread flood disasters where lives have been turned upside-down overnight to an already impoverished Nation that proves to be more and closer to the bursting point of collapse. When the situation explodes, a number of other consequences also follow. The traditional law-and-order machinery is no longer able to control and cater to the needs of an ever-growing crisis.

The government officials are in grim despair and awestruck wonder, a sense of helplessness. Public amenities like transport, sanitation, educational institutions and hospitals gradually become dysfunctional, creating a sense of distress and helplessness among those people in places affected by the three (3) typhoons who have to avail themselves of these services(see: DUE TO OUR LEADERS’ IRRESPONSIBILITY AND LAZINESS….). If this state of affairs continues in a few days to come, in the not-too-distant future, it would eventually lead to the collapse of civil society.

The challenges of such reordering are not inconsiderable, but doing nothing on the part of those at the helm of political power are even more dangerous. Something must be done to reverse the trend. The President must IMMEDIATELY GET ON HER TOES by weeding out unfit, disgusting, discombobulating, and useless Cabinet Officials, and their respective Usecs, Assecs, RDs, who are thought to be the forerunners of bad fortune. This is the only way the Philippines will be able to pull back from the precipice of the “tipping point”.