John Mangalonz
Local News Editor "The Spectrum"
Philippine politics has long struggled with corruption, and it seems that it is getting worse.
When
former strongman, the late President Ferdinand Marcos, was ousted in
1986, everyone thought freedom and clean and honest government were
going to reemerge, but it didn't happen.
What bothers me the most
is the fact the disparity between the rich and the poor in the
Philippines is getting wider by the minute, and I believe that one of
the causes of the country's rapid economic decline is the corruption
going on in all three branches government.
Recently, several key
figures — sitting senators and congress members — were arrested in
connection with a pork barrel scam: The politicians are alleged to have
accepted millions of dollars in kickbacks from what was then known as
the Countrywide Development Fund.
And involvement in the scandal may go all the way up to the presidential palace, according to recent news reports.
Meanwhile, millions of Filipinos worry how they are going to get their next meal.
The
percentage of the Philippine population considered to be poor is higher
than the Southeast Asian average, based on a study of the Asian
Development Bank and the National University of Singapore, titled
"Ending Asian Deprivations."
The report said around 17.71 percent
of the populace, or close to 18 million Filipinos — based on the
estimated 98 million Philippine population — still live below $1.25 a
day, which is the internationally accepted poverty line.
This is
depressing considering that the combined wealth of the 50 richest
families — including families of politicians — in the country already
equaled 25 percent of Philippine gross domestic product.
And,
remember Typhoon Haiyan in November that affected 4.3 million people
across 36 provinces and killed nearly 7,000 people? Eight months later,
the United Nations estimates more than 100,000 people there in the storm
zone still live in tents, waiting for better housing.
Tens of thousands more are rebuilding in places the government is trying to close down.
The
Philippines suffered one of the world's worst disasters in history in
November 2013. Haiyan rendered at least 4 million homeless.
The
Philippine government (big question mark here), private sector, and
non-governmental organizations have been behind a massive rehabilitation
program for Haiyan, but the process has been slow and at times
frustrating.
In the province of Tacloban alone, more than 12,000
homes were completely destroyed and 46,000 severely damaged. The
rebuilding needs are immense.
Aid agencies have so far provided emergency shelter supplies — tents, tarpaulins and the like — to 570,000 families.
A further 160,000 households have received tools and materials to help them rebuild their homes.
So, I ask: Do these alleged political crooks have any conscience left in their bones?
I
haven't been back home in more than 20 years. It was very hard, to say
the least, watching footage of the November storm's aftermath. Some of
my former colleagues in the islands sent me photos of their coverage,
lifeless bodies of victims lying on the streets.
My fellow journalists there then asked me: "Do you remember back in 1991?"
Sadly, I do.
As
Haiyan relief efforts went underway days and weeks after the disaster,
bloated bodies lay uncollected and uncounted in the streets and
survivors pleaded for food, water and medicine — much like what I saw in
1991.
Before Haiyan earned the distinction of being the worst
storm that hit the archipelago, Tropical Storm Thelma, or what
Philippine officials named Typhoon Uring, hit Ormoc City, also in Leyte
province.
I was a young journalist when I was sent to Ormoc City
in November 1991 to cover the aftermath of Thelma that killed roughly
6,000 people. Seeing hundreds, if not thousands, of bodies on the street
made it very difficult for me to find objectivity.
I can still
remember the looks on the faces of the grief-stricken people of Ormoc,
some of whom had lost many members of their family.
The cries of the victims I heard back in '91 are strikingly similar to the cries I hear today.
It will be a long road ahead for those left to make sense of the devastation, for life as they know it has changed forever.
Losing everything for a people who have nothing is irony in itself.
