And why did his hand-picked disaster operations chief go on vacay amid flood warnings?
By Raïssa Robles
Disaster is part of life in the Philippines.
By the time many Filipinos turn 21, they would have experienced a volcanic eruption, several strong earthquakes and over 400 storms – dozens of them worsened by deep floods, violent winds and landslides.
So it is rather hard to understand why President Rodrigo Duterte has kept slashing the disaster fund. Because of this, only P7.6 billion (roughly US$150 million) is left for natural disasters this year.
I hope the ongoing floods in and around do not totally wipe out this sum.
And we still have to go through the “ber” months when deadlier typhoons usually come.
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Duterte also appointed former Navy Captain Nicanor Faeldon as the deputy administrator for operations of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD). After removing him as Customs Commissioner.
The OCD is the operational arm of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). NDRRMC, created in the tragic aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy (international code name – Ketsana) is the agency that calls the shots during ongoing disasters, like this one.
So why did Faeldon post this photo on his Facebook page yesterday—amid heavy flood warnings—that he was on his way to Oriental Mindoro with his new-born kid and his partner?
He posted this photo and said, “Kahit maalon weekend trip pa rin to our province (Oriental Mindoro).” [Translation, even if the sea is rough, our weekend trip to our province is on.]
Sure, the NDRRMC has been issuing flood warnings throughout social media and mobile text messages this weekend.
Still, there is nothing like the operations chief manning the battle station at a time like this.
Disaster relief officials are like journalists. They have no day off before, during and after disasters.
I’m glad to note, though, that there are local government executives doing their job on disaster relief preparation and operations.
Particularly the local executives of Marikina City.
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What I find very interesting is that we have not also heard any presidential palace official nor cabinet official speak out about the ongoing disaster.
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I saw a post by actress Solenn Heussaff on the “sea of garbage” littering Roxas Boulevard in Manila. She urged the government to put more garbage bins in the streets.
Perhaps, she does not know, that the usual metal bins found so abundantly in other countries do not work in Metro Manila.
They will simply disappear overnight and brought to junk shops for resale.
This is also why Manila’s manholes are missing their steel covers. These have also been pried off and sold.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
I’ve been covering disasters since the 1990s. But it’s only in recent years that I observed a sea change in the government’s attitude toward disasters.
I wrote about this sea change in this piece recently published in D+ C (Development and Cooperation), a magazine funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and published on behalf of ENGAGEMENT GLOBAL.
With the permission of D+ C, I am printing part of my article below, with a link to the entire piece on the D+C website.
DISASTER RISKS
Changing attitude
19/06/2018 – by Raissa Robles
Manila Bay pounded by Typhoon Nesat (aka Pedring) – PHOTO by Marian Pastor Roces
Innovative legislation compels authorities in the Philippines to manage and reduce disaster risks systematically. This is a new paradigm. Even though they hit the archipelago regularly, natural calamities were previously seen as one-off events.
Natural disasters are part of life in the Philippines’ over 7,000 islands. By the time many Filipinos turn 21, they are likely to have experienced more than 200 tropical cyclones with top wind speeds of at least 118 km/h. Storms often cause severe flooding and landslides.
Earthquakes and volcano eruptions are common too.
In 2017, the Philippines with 100 million people ranked third behind the Vanuatu and Tonga, two small Pacific island nations, according to the World Risk Index. The index is compiled by an alliance of German non-governmental organisations (“Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft”) and assesses 173 countries’ exposure to natural disaster risks as well as their ability to cope.
“Whether natural hazards turn into disasters depends not only on the intensity of an event but is also crucially determined by a society’s level of development,” says Isagani Serrano, the president of the non-governmental Rural Reconstruction Movement and a co-convenor of Social Watch Philippines.
Pedro Walpole of Ateneo de Manila, a highly respected Catholic university, agrees. In his view, natural events like typhoons only become disasters when humans die. His grim forecast is this will continue to happen because “in the Philippines, we have an awful lot of very poor, marginalised people who have no place to go.”
This view is reinforced by Social Watch data:
- Over half the nation’s people live along coastlines, exposing them to typhoons and storm surges.
- Slightly more than a quarter are so poor that they cannot recover material losses or repair damages.
- One fifth are undernourished, so they are vulnerable to the health challenges of a storm’s aftermath.
Filipino’s traditional attitude to calamities is best expressed by the aphorism “bahala na”, which means “let’s leave it up to God”. Foreigners often consider it fatalistic. Filipinos seem to be resigned to accept nature’s wrath. The prominent scholar Alfredo Lagmay, who passed away in 2005, proposed a rather different interpretation of “bahala na” however. He argued it invited risk-taking while faced with possible failure. “It gives a person courage to see himself through hard times,” he said. It is “like dancing with the cosmos.”
For decades after independence in 1946, government responses to disasters were largely fatalistic and opportunistic. All administrations basically followed the same morning-after-the-storm ritual. The idea was that little could be done to prevent disasters, so policymakers’ job was to deliver relief fast after a disaster struck.
Affected families were crammed in school rooms until floods subsided. Typically, bags of rice and food cans were marked with the name of the politician who doled them out. Relief efforts were thus really re-election efforts. This practice has fallen into disrepute.
Apart from handing out supplies, there was no job for local governments. It was the army’s task to conduct search and rescue missions. It also cleared and repaired roads.
Failure to handle a catastrophe competently could end political careers. Typhoon Ketsana flooded Metro Manila in September 2009. Then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had groomed her Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro to run for president in 2010. He failed miserably to send rubber boats to rescue trapped homeowners from the flood waters – and that contributed to sinking his presidential campaign. Under the impression of the typhoon, however, the government changed its stance.
Innovative approach
In 2010, the Arroyo-dominated Congress approved landmark legislation. It created the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). Both disaster risk management (DRM) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) were innovative concepts. The new law fulfilled the Philippines’ commitment to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action, which had been the result of a UN conference on resilience building in Japan in 2005.
The new law marked a paradigm shift, according to Carmelita Laverinto of the Office of Civil Defence. She says that governments and relief agencies earlier viewed disasters as “one-off events” and responded accordingly. In her view, neither the social and economic implications of disasters nor their causes were appropriately taken into account.
To read the rest of the English version, please click on this link.
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A sidebar piece deals with a very frank critique of foreign aid agencies.
HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES
Unspoken competition
20/06/2018 – by Raissa Robles
Typhoon Haiyan – which was also called Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, triggered an enormous and generous outpouring of foreign aid from non-governmental organisations, faith-based charities and UN agencies. One veteran of international disaster relief, however, became keenly aware of the efforts’ downsides.
In the devastated city of Tacloban, Karl Gaspar, a Catholic monk, saw NGO workers staying in the most expensive hotels, eating in the best restaurants and cruising in brand new SUVs through streets “where dead bodies wait to be identified and buried in mass graves”. Moreover, he noted that many pledges never materialised. In his book (Gaspar 2014) on the experience, he wrote: “As of 8 September 2014, the country has received P 71 billion ($ 1.626 billion) worth of foreign aid pledges in cash and in kind, but only P 15 billion ($ 349.404 million) has been received so far.”
To read the rest, please click on this link.
andrewlim8 says
DUTERTE IS JUST DISTRACTING YOU FROM SO MUCH INCOMPETENCE THIS AUGUST
Don’t fall for it – all that nonsense Duterte is talking about – attacking the clergy and God, attacking the VP, etc. is meant to shift discussion away from so much incompetence and failure in the past few weeks.
Let’s list them down:
1. Inflation
2. Lower growth rate
3. Shabu smuggling continues in large amounts
4. Corruption in govt – some he makes a show of firing them, some he will not do anything- like the Tulfos and Teo
5. Incompetence of the Con-com’s output on federalism/charter change, all of whom he handpicked, hence they all resembled his background: poor in economics, poor in mathematics
6. Lower remittances esp from the ME which will impact on the exchange rate
7. lower rankings on practically every index- from impunity to corruption to tourism
8 natural disasters where they have to send look alikes
9 populist “papogi” measures which are now biting back – e.g. pensions and salaries for armed forces and PNP
10. shift in power to Arroyo
11. widespread dissastisfaction with his handling of the West Phil Sea
12. Mocha Uson’s inanity which is a reflection on him, because he appointed her and refuses to fire her
And that’s just off the top of my head. Add the others.
arc says
and federalism tops the cake po! digong must have gotten the idea from jehomar binay! feed them cake, feed them federalism! the 22 federal consultatives will soon be droning over the whole pinas selling digong’s fede-cake! eat cake, be happy! have federalims, be rich!
never ako believe pinas will suddenly rise to top, be utterly, utterly wealthy, be rich beyond measure! the opposite will happen sa federalism, pinas will be super poor. ngayon pa lang pinas can barely afford the combined fees of the 22 consultatives let alone thier expenses to come. train law devastates the poor, their default job now is selling and dealing illegal drugs.
the shift to federalims will cost so much, pinas is going to sink, sa utang! those going to be federal ministers, mga croonies ni digong, mga kamag-anak niya’t kakilala, his appointees and those with vested interests will drain what little is left!
already, other nations are unlikely to pautang pinas, except loan shark china. ngayon, digong is paying interests sa utang niya sa china, high interests na halos hindi kaya ng bayan. already funds are being slashed everywhere, disaster fund included. if digong hopes that by showing films of impoverished pinoys languishing like sardines in evac centers, some being tangay by strong alon, empty food containers and begging bowls waiting for handouts, mga paawa moments sure to tug bleeding hearts, digong hoping other nations will come and give plenty disaster aid, all digong got is promises and pledges, both unfulfilled. other nations have their own problems and disasters too, and help their own people 1st!
digong is a one man disaster, he, he, he. and if people are getting sick of him talking about himself and more of himself, they should cut off the mic! and put him in straight jacket! he, he, he.
leona says
Duterte belittled Robredo’s ability to lead the country, saying she could not be a good leader compared to Marcos or Escudero.
To succeed to lead the country, Duterte is thinking,
whether seriously or not, we do not know.
He is thinking of what other method of succession?
Isn’t in our Constitution that succession is by
law. He does not believe so. But he took an
Oath and obligated himself to support and
defend the Constitutions and the laws of the land.
By basing this succession idea for leaders to
lead the country, Edmund Burke said
it should be by the law of the land.
. . . Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy. By as strong, or by a stronger reason, the House of Commons cannot renounce its share of authority.
. . . The engagement and pact of society, which generally goes by the name of the constitution, forbids such invasion and such surrender.
the name of the Constitution.
. . . The constituent parts of a state are obliged to hold their public faith with each other, and with all those who derive any serious interest under their engagements, as much as the whole state is bound to keep its faith with separate communities. Otherwise competence and power would soon be confounded, and no law be left but the will of a prevailing force.
– Competence, Duterte thinks VP Robredo does
not have.
– Power, Duterte thinks VP Robredo cannot
have.
But are Constitution now says VP Robredo
has it in case of succession. Not to follow
this law will result in Competence and Power
to be confounded.
An angry succession. An annoying succession.
Every leader bears in mind always that a leader
must lead on ‘the steady maxims of faith, justice, and fixed
fundamental policy’ be followed.’
To listen to Duterte’s succession idea is
to Edmund Burke’s words into this:
. . . Though a king may abdicate for his own person,
he cannot abdicate for the monarchy.
Marcos Bong2 will in-put monarchy. Dynasty.
A joke by Duterte. Joke or not, Bong2M might
not believe it is a joke.
VP Leni Robredo succeeds if Duterte acts
to make his feelings tired being President.
She has ‘equal authority, emanating from the common
agreement and original compact of the state, communi
sponsione reipublicae, and as such are equally binding on
king [presidents] and people too, as long as the terms are observed,
and they continue the same body politic.’ [Burke’s]
Step down if you wish. VP Robredo is
capable, much more capable, as this is
the compact of the people and the State,
under our Constitution and laws.
The country will have less much less
anger or annoyance in such succession.
Mabuhay ang Filipinas! Buhay ang
1987 Constitution!
Kalahari says
Fed up with corruption, Duterte mulls resigning – only if chiz or bongbong replaces him as he claimed that VP Robredo “cannot do the job”
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/08/16/1843024/fed-corruption-duterte-mulls-resigning
Borrowing from the late columnist Max Soliven – who are these two SANAMAGANS?
1. Bongbong is the scion of the reported biggest looters of public funds estimated at US $10 billions by Jakarta Post and is wallowing in filthy wealth.
2. How can a 2nd ‘poorest’ senator afford an exclusive and very expensive Balesin Resort wedding in Quezon province attended by the “who’s who” in corporate world? and followed by a second reception at the Blue Leaf Filipinas in Paranaque attended by more than a thousand invitees who did not make it at Balesin. Tapping biggies in the corporate world as principal sponsors has raised the eyebrows of some purists who think that chiz crossed the thin ethical line between public service and private interests
https://www.rappler.com/published/updated 02/26/16
arc says
no po, digong is not feed up with corruption, he, he, he, dahil why in the name of the stinky durian does he keeps on appointing the corrupts to govt offices only for them to grab as much money as they can, implements as many ghost project as they can, and then when time comes for them to pay back, give back what was stolen? what give back, money is already gone, spent. and digong is happy with that, content even.
digong never tires of appointing corrupts! ka-frats niya, lex talionis! and fellow dabawenyos, never change his modos. and sure enough, his appointees never disappoint, he, he, he and know how to help themselves.
arc says
ay, tumaba kuno kaayo ang puso ni escudero! to be handpicked for the presidency by a buang, he, he, he. so happy, escudero lost sight of ka-party niyang si grace poe. ay naku, gusto talagang maging presidente soonest si escudero but ran 2nd to grace poe.
lumantad ng husto ang ambisyon ni escu baby, put everything asunder kaagad! self to the fore!
does escu baby ever think before opening his mouth? engage his brain a bit before jumping sa chasm! look before you leap,escu baby.
had escu baby said, thanks for the endorsement, digong, but I think, grace poe is more suited to be president than me! there, many would have been convinced escu baby has wider peripheral vision, and not besotted with himself, so.
arc says
would duterte likes to be proven correct? dare he step down now and let vice president leni take over the presidency, and maybe have the last laugh, he, he, he. he seeing president leni having to grapple with rising insurgencies in mindanaw, struggles with calamities and the constant lack of funds, pledges of other nations that never came to fruition, the poor and the homeless always hungry with nothing much left to eat, the troublesome public servants always asking for pay rises, the traffic gridlock sa edsa, etc,
yeah! for once, let leni get her fair share of worries, have sleepless nights thinking of solutions, let her hair be grey earlier than usual, leni losing weight with so much problems to solve – yeah wouldn’t duterte want to see his enemy, and not friends, be bogged down with same problems that bogged him down as well?
hand the presidency to leni and see how well, or how bad, she handles problems, how long she last without her saying, I give up! I’m resigning, I’m stepping down!
leona says
Look and Read the past news re: MMDA ban
vehicles with only a driver on EDSA
Senators: PASAY CITY, Philippines – The Senate leadership filed on Wednesday (August 15) a resolution seeking to stop the implementation of the driver-only ban on EDSA.
The ban affects so many people driving on EDSA
and here the MMDA thinks banning lonely drivers
is good? Nah!
Stupid idea? 99.999% Yes!
People moving along EDSA should ban
these MMDA officials from thinking like that.
Inutile! LIFT THE BAN !
MMDA Officials! – Bang your heads against the concrete wall instead.
arc says
ban lone drivers sa edsa? they have ghost passengers and they’re not alone! jesus christ is their co-pilot, the holy trinity is with them, the father, the son, and the holy spirit. lone drivers are not alone. they have company, he, he, he. and the virgin mary, the mother of god is with them too. see her statue?
leona says
Yep, you are right arc
EDSA is the only highway of SAINTS!
Epifanio delos Santos where God & Saints
are with drivers in their private vehicles . . .
jesus christ is their co-pilot, the holy trinity is with them, the father, the son, and the holy spirit. lone drivers are not alone.
And MMDA did this ban without
public consultation/discussion! They
are re-thinking daw to lift the ban.
What is EDSA? Epifanio delos Santos
is the MAIN ROAD through Metro Manila!
To travel/drive alone in one’s private
vehicle along EDSA under the ban s forgetting
Metro Manila and Mr. Epifano delos
Santos
who was also a public servant:
governor, prosecutor, district attorney,
member of the Philippine Commission,
a Filipino intellectual, Director of the Philippine
Library and Museum and elected as third
President of the Philippine Library Association
( now Philippine Librarians Association, Inc.)
becoming the first Filipino of native parentage
to assume such position professionally for Philippine
library science, atbpa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epifanio_de_los_Santos
Let us, including MMDA officials,
continue to give honor to the man as we
know him
Don Pañong or Don Panyong
– EDSA.
andrewlim8 says
Just parking here some memes for those who like them:
1. INIWAN NG MAAYOS, NGAYON AY BUSABOS.
Referring to the inflation, growth rate, international standing, corruption index ranking, current acct deficit, exchange rate and loss of control over Phil territory after Duterte took over from Aquino.
2. BONELESS BANGUS – code name of Sec Alan Cayetano used by his security people on radio
Referring to his stand on the West Phil Sea and Phil sovereignty vis a vis China; refers to his whitish complexion, and refers to the loss of Philippine fish catch to the Chinese, making it more expensive and adding to inflation
leona says
Slashing the disaster fund is DOUBLE disaster.
$150M/P53.30 for example, = US$2.81. How much
is this amount in PH pesos? = Ph P0.05.
I hope korek itong math ko.
So, what good can one use these days for Ph P0.05?
Wellll. . . one can FLOAT this (coin if any by BSP) in the flood waters!
Wellll. . . done.
Ph P7.5B for the whole country’s use for disaster
funds Mocha dee-dee Pee-Pee! Most of
the relief goods, etc., will be valued ultimately
into US Dollars.
Why was the disaster fund slashed?
Guesses: 1.) It is useless. 2.) Let the poor folks affected
smile while suffering in the floods. 3.) The poor are used
to it – floods, earthquakes, atbpa. 4.) Use the other money
for other more important uses. Like for fedeeeralism.
5.) Or for politics in many forms. 6.) Maybe a mistake was
made by the Budget Mgt people. 7.) Let the poor have
not-enough as enough. 8.) PhP7.5B na, ano pang gusto?
9.) Forget or do not mind these disasters. and
10.) Why should disasters be priority for bigger funds?
Warning Note: Country is ready to be not-ready for
more coming all year round disasters.
Rains Floods Rains Floods Rains Floods
Keep Coming Eveeery Days
Make Do with P0.05 fund.
raissa says
I think it has to be USD150 m x P53.30.
But you are right. The amount is very small.
Your calculations made me curious.
Assuming US$150 million x P53.30 = roughly P7.995 billion
P7.995 billion / 105 million Filipinos = around P76 per Filipino set aside for disaster.
That’s Duterte’s disaster budget.
netty says
And multiply that P76 per person by 200 or more , the number of times tropical cyclones coming to visit the country, less budget is the best solution by the govt. So, the coolest thing to do is just ignore and slashed down the budget till all the poor drown and die in the calamity, that is natural death. No q asked, no accountability, as always.
Why subsidized the unwanted?This is the mindset of the one who promised to step down many times like the female cyclones,,, to go or not to go.
The saying now is ” When it rains, it floods.” Esp . in the PH.
https://watchers.news/2018/08/13/massive-floods-kill-6-people-displace-59-100-and-affect-1-1-million-philippines/
And unfortunately, for the PH, it’s water and metal castigation from a little birdie. Sorry.
And also as the drugs are coming also frequently and even the president himself is endorsing it, as that kind of treatment , there is good news for his endorsement.
Look at this—
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/lethal-injection/nebraska-set-become-first-state-use-fentanyl-execution-n900576
Maybe death penalty would be more easier to push through than FEDERALISM because drugs are in plentiful supply , imagine billions of ton every now and then. Why crowd the jail when there is this remarkable use of the drugs? War on drugs solved, drug users eliminated and world would see how great the country is for solving the drug problem in the country by using its national commodity.
SHOUT OUT to Pacman , here’s your CHANCE to effectively push the death penalty. Fentanyl injection, right?
I read there is a drug use in the bible, I am not sure what is the brand but its drugs. Do some research , Mr. Pac.It’s in the bible, verse xxx.
leona says
PDu30: I’m thinking of stepping down
Em: You don’t need to. . . you are already down!
You should step up!
PDu30: Eh! I’m speaking to Bong2M and
Sen. Escu! Not to you.
. . . Bong2M ikaw na! Gusto mo?
Bong2M: Ayaw ko! May kaso pa ako sa Pet-Pet para VP!
PDu30: Eh! Tangi.
. . . ‘O – Escu, ikaw na! Gusto mo?
Sen. Escu: Ayaw ko! Unconsti yan!
PDu30: Tangi rin!
Lumapit si Pacman: AKO NA!
PDu30: Eh! Wag na! Baka ma absent ka hanggan
taon 2022!
Pordoy!
he he
arc says
duterte is big on procrastinating at hanggang dyan lang siya! honelet knows this only too well. for so long she waited for duterte to marry her, now na halos 18 yrs old na ang anak nilang si kitty, still duterte is not marrying honeylet, only thinking of marrying her, still thinking.
and duterte is at it again, and thinking of stepping down. dati, thinking of resigning siya, now thinking of stepping down. will someone please push this thinking man down the grand staircase sa malakanyang! he, he, he, duterte is probly thinking he’s a thinking pinoy!
arc says
thinking of resigning, thinking of stepping down, what will digong think of next?
arc says
digong is the disaster that happens to the country. recall ko po, sabi ni roque no one is going to be without funds when it was thought na anti duterte solons will get zero budget. solons will get their budgets, but their constituents in flood and disaster areas? shouldn’t solons be standing side by side with their constituents and shouting with them that their disaster fund be kept intact and not slashed?
with the way digong was handing out money and gifts, granting hefty pay rises mostly o kapolisan and military, doubling their benefits, etc; plus dating constant overseas travel niya with sangkatutak entourage on tow, mga appointees niya palpak sa trabaho, fired and re-assigned and earning salaries that far outweigh their skills, govt agencies like pcoo that ask for more funds and gotten it, you’d think money grow on trees!
something has got to give, trees got felled and died, lumot grows and coffer is fast dying up, digong needs money fast and quick and train law is not giving enough. slasher, basher, cutter, tatter, back to square one with taumbayan as default. they’re no humans! they’re ligo sardines! he, he, he. can them!
I say po. solons should rise up and fight for their constituents, fight for what is rightfully theirs. if not, what is theirs will be usurped. solons beware, digong will not just take an inch but a mile!
arc says
“In the devastated city of Tacloban, Karl Gaspar, a Catholic monk, saw NGO workers staying in the most expensive hotels, eating in the best restaurants and cruising in brand new SUVs through streets “where dead bodies wait to be identified and buried in mass graves”.
anyhow, akala ko’y tacloban was devastated by yolanda, roads were flooded at sira ang mga establishments. for karl gaspar to say ngos were eating in best of restaurant! and driving suvs! what the . . . how can you drive on flooded roads? which expensive restos he meant? nameless ba ang mga restos na yan! similarly nameless expensive hotels din po ba? and how did he knew brand new yong suvs?
karl gaspar saw dead bodies kuno still to be identified lying on road sides, and like ngos, did karl gaspar just walk on by? monks gotta be accountable even catholic ones, he, he, he.
my apologies for being insensitive! hic.
raissa says
Hi Arc,
I quoted Brother Karl Gaspar because he had been living in Tacloban for a number of years before the Haiyan struck. So he knows the area.
He has also been at the forefront of fighting against injustice for a long time.
I mentioned him in my book Marcos Martial Law: Never Again. He was once assigned in Davao and was born there. When the house of the German pastor in Davao City was raided and those inside, including Hilda Narciso were all arrested, Gaspar happened to pass by the house afterward and the military arrested him too.
Try grabbing hold of his book, “Desperately Seeking God’s Saving Action: Yolanda Survivors’ Hope Beyond Heartbreaking Lamentations”. You can read more about his book here – https://www.ucanews.com/news/redemptorist-brother-wins-philippine-book-awards/74294
So when Gaspar wrote that in his book, I believed him.
arc says
so begging your pardon po! I ask the stupidest of questions no one dares asks, the shallowest and the most irrelevant questions, ever.
cheers po, and thanks.
arc says
digong keeps slashing disaster fund because he does not believe in disasters! he, he, he. digong has two offices in the best of locations in the enitire country, and he will always have the best food promptly served on his table, and all the rest of the country can starve and go to hell! wala siyang pakialam! siya ang bahala, taumbayan ang kawawa. likewise, nilayasan ni faeldon ang trabaho niyang that has been utterly, utterly good to him and provided him with best income ever, at nagvacay sa lupang hinirang niya sa mindoro oriental. far from the maddening crowd.
and who does faeldon answers to? himself po, doing what is right, by him, he, he, he.
do what is right! thats the president’s order to all his appointees. and so many did, doing what is right by them, and by the president. fall outs? no worries, there is always roque ready to cover up and explain anything and everything. and for as long as people bite roque’s foibles, all’s well and disasters are well too.
the calamities, the localities na binaha ng husto and those displaced people sheltering sa evac centers, ni anino ni faeldon hindi nila nakita! walang disaster fund, barely any relief goods left to give, halos ubos na ang pera ng bayan, and we only have to point the finger at digong, mismanagement niya is 2nd to none. e, di mamigay na lang si digong ng cell phones, that should keep them nasalanta ecstatic and very happy! keep texting!
if people dont demand change, there will be no change. if people are happy the way things are, let them be happy!
but if people want something done differently, they should all shout and point all thier loudspeakers to dabaw.
raissa says
You are correct.
Alex1121 says
Palagay ko po ay malubha na ang sakit ng pangulo, kaya hindi po sya naka pag bigay ng pahayag sa naka lipas na araw.
na obserbahan ko po ito sa GMA news kahapon na nanginginig ang kamay ni Du30 at basag na boses nya.
00:12:00
https://youtu.be/3zTxadMEcmA
raissa says
Thanks for this, @Alex1121,
I mentioned you in my post here –
https://www.raissarobles.com/2018/08/16/is-duterte-ill/
Welcome to Cyber Plaza Miranda.
Pablo says
Nothing surprises me anymore. The above point are very valid and answers should be given. From a small local perspective, we can clearly see and demonstrate this happens much worse at local level.
During a recent calamity in La Paz, Tarlac almost P8,000,000 was released in “Calamity Funds” for a serious disaster by the Sanggunian Bayan. This was augmented by the Provincial Government, and no less than Sara Duterte and the City of Davao, who donated P500,000. To date, not a cent of the above amounts have been documented, not has a public accounting been made, despite repeated requests.
In the days following, more than 20 people attended a “seminar” in Bukidnon. This trip was attended by the Mayor, Vice Mayor, several favored Councilors, the City treasurer, family members and uncounted persons not even government employees. The pretext was to visit a “clean public market”. The locality has a new public market under construction, massively overpriced and even more expensive than Makati Science building. Already awared, designed and due to complete. Surely it’s “cleanliness” should have been planned long ago, even before it was bid and awarded?
A link is detailed below detailing a Facebook page of those committing this atrocity.
Where is the justification for this type of behavior? where is the accountability for those so tragically affected? The situation of corruption at both National and local level is shameless and unabated. Even funds from Davao are seemingly gobbled up without even a blink of an eye.
raissa says
You never truly know a man until you give him power.
Which is why the governed need to keep a watchful eye over those governing.
Welcome to Cyber Plaza Miranda, the tambayan ng bayan.
Kalahari says
Where is the link, @Pablo?
sup says
in the wordpress bag…they steal all the links…..hahahaha ;-)