Knowing who are members of the majority and minority blocs and on which side their bread is buttered, I can't help but feel sorry for our country that counts a bunch of performative politicians for its senators. Not that they have ever been concerned for it, but both blocs are currently sacrificing the welfare of the country for their respective grandstanding goals. Tantrums are for kids; yet, that's exactly what these entitled adults are throwing.
The House behaves no better. By expelling Kiko Barzaga, they are sending out the message that for 'disruptive behavior' you can get expelled post haste. But for dishonesty, for stealing people's money, a member may be investigated endlessly only to be finally exonerated by the forgetfulness or, worse still, the dishonesty of investigating colleagues. Then there is the impeachment of the Vice President which has the marks of political persecution written all over it. I am not exonerating the Vice President but just asking why her alone? The answer, coming from some dark political place, brings up the question: who will she move to impeach when the tables are turned and she wins the Presidency? And when will this rigmarole end?
Meanwhile, poverty festers. There's just no way the chaos upstairs can have a positive impact on the anxiety and physical suffering of Cebu City's Carbon ambulant vendors and Talisay City's Tino flood victims. Hence, instead of wasting time trying to make sense of the chaos a bunch of political clowns has created upstairs, I thought I'd do some waking up downstairs.
A source recently told me that some Tino flood victims are slowly going back to the river banks where they got flooded. I checked and saw them building but not too close to the river as before. From the materials used and the lack of order in the place, I believe that the Talisay local government unit (LGU) didn't help them with building materials or a resettlement plan. Those in Tent Cities are also reaching their deadlines without knowing what is going to happen to them.
Come to think of it, I've lived in Talisay for the last 16 years and saw no progress from past and present administrations. The clean, orderly and beautiful spots in Talisay are those where private establishments built new buildings. Otherwise, city streets are narrow. Garbage is piled up in many dark corners. Tabunok Market is so congested and dirty. I hope the city is not contemplating to privatize it like Cebu City is disastrously doing with Carbon.
I also took a quick trip to the city's landfill and saw it to be just a dump site. It's anything but safe and sanitary. Talisay City has no waste segregation and diversion program like Cebu City is starting to have. It should learn a lesson from Cebu and not wait for a garbage disposal emergency to happen. It needs a waste segregation program that diverts all waste that can be reused or recycled and deposits only residual waste in a safe and sanitary landfill.
I could be wrong about the details. But then I could also be missing some other negative details. Anyway, the devil this time is not in the details but in the whole picture and it's about time Talisay's governance scene is lighted up.
