In a span of just an hour, five days’ worth of rainfall typical for the month of August bore down on Quezon City Saturday afternoon. PAGASA recorded 96.6 millimeters of rain between 2 and 3 in the afternoon; the monthly rainfall average for August is 568.5 mm.
The rain was categorized as torrential. As a result, several parts of the city were flooded; traffic was stalled and many found themselves stranded.
The flooding, whether due to a thunderstorm or a typhoon, in a densely populated city or in the provinces, is a sore reminder of an issue that has hounded us for years but has only been scrutinized in recent weeks.
These days we find trails that do not seem to end. Initially, provinces with the most number of, or the highest amounts of, flood control projects were looked into relative to their actual need for such interventions. Patterns in the conduct of bidding were revealed, and a few familiar names – individual or corporate – emerged. In the succeeding days, this or that personality linked other personalities to irregularities. Public works engineers were fired, but those occupying higher, more influential decisions have been spared.
As all this was going on, “lifestyle” interviews of a husband-and-wife team were highlighted, with many becoming aghast at how difficult questions were not asked despite the red flags their statements raised.
Which leads us to wonder: while we are all inundated in accusations, the people are worried that we can no longer tell who among our leaders are genuinely denouncing the systemic corruption, and who are just paying lip service to the cause?
Whether or not there is flooding in recent memory should not dictate the intensity of our desire to get to the bottom of the entrenched, “standard” practices. These purport to prevent the public from harm and yet submerge them deeper in the cycle of corruption. May we not lose zeal and outrage even when the sun comes up again, and other issues vie to pull our attention away from this infuriating issue.
