Politicians will wipe us out, not earthquake

“Learn to see in another’s calamity the ills which you should avoid.” — Publilius Syrus

By Alex P. Vidal

Graft and corruption in massive scale, not earthquake, will destroy the Philippines. If we are prepared, protected and safe from where we are sleeping, sitting or standing when disasters like flash flood, fire and earthquake strike, we have strong chances of survival.

Since alertness and presence of mind are crucial in any emergency situation, not all will die. Not all will end up in scratches, destitution or dire straits. But with dishonest leaders and corrupt politicians, nobody is safe. Everyone is loser.

Plunderers in government rob us of our lifetime fortune and strip us of our dignity; rapacious “pork barrel” scam artists run away not only with our hard-earned money, but also steal the future of our children. The mayhem is horrifically scandalous and in colossal scale.

GATHER

After the destruction, rich countries and concerned citizens around the world will gather their resources together and chip in to help the victims rebuild their lives and the infrastructure; the government will set aside special funds for food and shelter so they can go back to their normal lives after burying their dead and erecting their temporary houses. Life must go on.

It’s always embedded in human psyche to help and commiserate when others are in deep crisis and sorrow. Assistance from foreign and domestic sources is inevitable. Filipinos are known for their ability to quickly recover from any catastrophe.

But for a nation robbed and raped by scoundrels in government, it will take years before it can bring back wasted opportunity to distribute the national wealth in the form of taxes paid by people for improvement of their lives, social security and delivery of basic needs because the money went to the pockets of rascals and hoodlums we mistakenly elected in public offices.

WRONG

Meanwhile, those who perished during natural calamities were usually in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most of those killed in the recent Central Visayas earthquake were children and elderly pinned to death by concrete and heavy walls and ceilings that collapsed or failed to come out from their obliterated houses. Destruction during calamities are usually “to whom it may concern.”

There are fears that in the future, the Philippines may be depopulated by natural calamities such as typhoon and earthquake as the country sits in a precarious location in the Far East prone to super howlers and powerful tremors. Experts say earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along the plate boundaries where the Philippine islands stand.

Before it can happen, our corrupt politicians have already started to depopulate us, to impoverish us with their insatiable greed for “pork barrel” and other forms of graft and corrupt practices. Our politicians are the worst catastrophe to bedevil the nation. God, please save the Philippines.