August Deluge Thoughts

I've been thinking of a kick-ass post for my return to blogging, but for the past weeks, I've been getting nothing more than a blank stare from my computer screen. 

Then it rained. It rained relentlessly and I realized that I will not wait for that kick-ass moment to come. I must go back to blogging.

Pouring, drenching, hammering, and pounding deluge hit Manila and its neighboring provinces for the past two weeks. As a result, images of flooded roads started figuring in the internet. Soon after, stories about heroic rescues made it to prime time news cast, and celebrities and celebrity-wanna-be politicians started making cameo roles in the relief operations. 

For three days now, many areas in Manila became a waterworld. 

The Filipino Spirit is Waterproof
Photo courtesy :design by Katria Alampay and tagline by Ayala Museum  

In the middle of all this, memes and some netizens started blaming the "abusive, irresponsible and undisiplined Filipinos" for how much they have contributed to this disaster. Why have we not learned from the past, they asked. 

It got me wondering, yet again. 

Did they ever ask why Filipinos act as "Filipinos?" Why squatters have to resort to settling illegally? Why people have to go to densely populated Manila just to eke out a living? Why Filipinos lack better judgement to understand the effects if they litter and clog the drainage? Why Filipinos are poor? Why Filipinos are dirty? Why Filipinos are abusive, irresponsible, and without any discipline? Why floods as massive as these still happen?

I do not claim to be a social scientist nor do I know everything about the Philippines. But I will try to answer some of these questions based on my level of understanding of the reality around me, and based on how I feel for these  "irresponsible Filipinos." And this one hits home because I'm part of the statistics of the poor. 

We are poor because the system allows us to be poor. We crowd in urban areas because there are a few job opportunities in the countryside. We lack the judgement to understand the repercussions of littering and improper trash management to the environment because we are not properly educated. We are not educated because education has become more like a privilege than a right. Homeless people shivering in the cold nights remain homeless because they are not educated, didn't get to land a decent job, didn't get to find a better space to house whatever little they have. Floods like this happen because of natural calamities, but most importantly because of some greedy people who illegally cut trees where upstream rain come from and because of the government's inability to control over-development in urban areas. 

There are far deeper reasons that would answer why we remain poor in this mighty modern times. But I'll reserve touching further on that topic.

Filipinos, vast majority poor, are not lazy people. In fact we are some of the most resilient and hardworking inhabitants of this planet. We brave really hard blows in our day to day life -- from waking up and breathing in a polluted air, to  surviving a day with at least three decent meals, to taking the taxing public road and transport, to settling in low-paying jobs, to ending a day with worries because of the rain and flood forcing its way inside our "houses." Everyday is a tough call out here.

I will not blame the haters for conveniently blaming the poor. They too are part of this oppressed society. Maybe until the system allows us all to get equal and better opportunities, this blame game will not end. But until then, can we be more compassionate to one another? Most, if not all, of these people we  meet on the road are fighting a very difficult battle. 

Let's not blame people because we think we know better. If we know better, we would always understand why certain people act in certain ways. It pays to ask, read and understand. Because in the end, education breeds kindness. And kindness leads to action. 

For a start, stop bashing. Go out and help!