Back to regular programming

CTALK

- CITO BELTRAN

With the typhoons gone, floodwaters mostly subsided and the SONA now almost a thing of the past, the country, the media and our politicians return to "regular programming."

I don't listen to the political news much, but it was interesting to note that two members of Congress immediately came out, one to deny involvement in e-sabong while the other appealed to netizens not to generalize and judge members of Congress as "All Corrupt."

I suppose that there are still some members of Congress who have a conscience or are too new in office to be accused of corruption and plundering flood control funding. But I advise them not to appeal to the public's judgmental mood. Filipinos are angry!

First and foremost, many Filipinos suffered and lost homes, possessions, as well as livelihood on only the fourth tropical storm of the year. Second, they have been experiencing floods every year, some even all year, year after year.

In the '70s and '80s, people accepted that a typhoon would bring so much rain, and it would be normal to have one or two big floods a year and these would dry up quickly. But now floods have become regular and last weeks to six months.

While the private sector has been penalized, crucified and criticized on social media and blamed for the flooding, the national and local governments were never subjected to such accountability and condemnation.

A number of local officials from congressmen, governors, mayors are accused of dredging sand, quarrying for filling material for developers, reclamation projects, illegal mining and illegal logging, but has anybody been arrested?