Government's Options

(excerpt from my journal entry dated August 12, 2012, a Sunday)

I was born and raised in the 1970s, schooled for most of the 1980s up to mid-1990s, and considered a grown up and mature adult around the turn of the millennium. No, I won’t be attaching any significance to that fact, other than the coincidence that by the time I’ve been empowered enough to do something about the world I live in, it turns out that I and my generation are inheritors of a fucked-up world and that reparations must be in order.

My perspective: global warming is NOT the problem; ill-preparedness IS.

Global warming is a phenomenon of the planet. Sabi nga ni Al Gore, it’s an “inconvenient truth”—truth that we must live with, that is if you want the species to continue living on the planet. Ngayon, kung ayaw mong indahin ang global warming, e humanap ka muna ng ibang planetang matitirhan mo.

Now, whether or not it’s the human race who created this “monster,” it is rather too late to be pinpointing that out, isn’t it? It is much wiser to pinpoint, instead, that the human race CAN do something about it.

But in the meantime, there will be Ondoy III, Ondoy IV, Ondoy V, and so on (not counting the earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, diseases, etc.), to contend with. This means the effects of global warming are already out there.

It’s either they are out to get us, if we let them; or they’re out there just to test us and make us stronger (and smarter).

Now, which do we choose?

That’s the two options that our government has for now: (1) Let the people just weather the situation everytime it happens, or (2) help the people improve their lives and adjust to the PHENOMENON.

For option 1, that’s what we’ve been doing all these years. Bumaha. Ilikas ang mga tao. Bigyan ng relief. Ibalik sa mga bahay nila pag humupa na yung baha. Next year, ganun ulit.

Nakaka-uta na.

It’s ironic. We’re living in the 21^st century, yet this is not so different from the way our ancestors survived during their caveman days.  “Ungga, taas baha!” “Akyat tayo bundok.” “Ungga, wala na baha.” “Tayo balik na atin kweba.”

Angyayabang ng mga pulitiko kung umasta. Yet, they let their constituents survive like cavemen. Ano’ng nangyari sa nakukubra nilang tax money?

For option 2, the least that government can do now is for the waterways to be de-clogged, deepened and widened, and for the dikes to be taller and stronger. In the meantime, truly enforce the laws governing the logging industry and environment protection. Pinaka-basic na ‘yun.

[Also, bakit hindi i-televise ang mga bidding sa mga projects ng gobyerno? Pera naman ng taong-bayan ‘yun, kaya dapat lang siguro na alam at nababantayan ng taong-bayan kung saan talaga napupunta ang pera nila. ‘Yun ngang impeachment, tine-televise pa nila, e wala naman idinagdag na value ‘yung pagsasapubliko noon sa buhay ng ordinaryong Pinoy. Sayang lang kuryente.]

But if the government really wants to be ambitious about it, it can entertain ideas that border on science fiction: Float the city! Or at least the low-lying areas. Let the waters freely pass through beneath the  ground we live on. Konting imagination naman!

‘Yun nga lang, the means of support will have to be really, really strong and well-adjusted (to withstand earthquakes) and well guarded (against terrorist attacks). And it would cost a lot of time, money and energy, too.

Right now, I’m thinking, what if all our tax money really got to go where they are supposed to go? Angganda siguro ng Pilipinas.