By Gabriel Bernales
Why can’t we just have a taste of good governance?
In our capitalistic society, people often say money isn’t everything, but that’s been the common refrain for so long. Spoiler alert: it is everything.
The province of Capiz accumulated ₱1.1 billion for flood control projects from 2022 to 2024. You might think, “We have progress, right?” Yet, here we are, still facing the same adversities: houses are submerged during rainfall, roads are blocked, and we’re left pondering where all that money actually went.
It was reported that the government completed 23 projects intended to solve the problem, yet we are still seeing the same facade of inaction and failure. If these supposedly “strong” flood structures were the solution to our perennial problem, why do they feel useless? Imagine spending millions of pesos only to have the problem persist.
The recent “Sumbong sa Pangulo” (Report to the President) program was introduced to report anomalies. Will this be a genuine voice for us Filipinos, or is it another facade designed to create a worthy headline while masking deeper incompetence?
We need answers. We can’t tolerate this situation anymore. Many of us struggle every time a calamity strikes, and are we truly expected to just “rise above it”? No way.
Flooding isn’t merely caused by rain. It is caused by weaponized incompetence, the deliberate or negligent failure to use resources effectively.
Money is everything, and so are our taxes that the government is supposed to use to amplify the nation for the greater good. We demand answers.
