The Bounce Back Spirit

It happened again.

A number of times, Metro Manila and many other provinces get submerged in flood water. What we know is it is caused by nature and greed of men. What a lethal combination!

Before this flood brought about by Typhoon Maring that pulled monsoon rains, we have learned many things about taxpayers’ money going to personal pockets of the corrupt government leaders and greedy personalities.We have learned what our leaders do worst and what they will not do for the country. While many people put their trust on them, they ignore what could have been the only reason they are in position of power.

For the nth times, many lives have taken and hundreds of millions of properties are taken away not to mention millions of pesos lost from economic inactivity. We mourn and pause for a moment. We pray that soon, we will get back to our feet and move forward.

Our nature will always have its way of letting people know what we do wrong and what we do right. In this case, we take heavier emphasis on what we have been doing wrong all along. We give our power to people who don’t have any plan of making our country a little better. We give authority to people who know how to lie beyond imagination and steal only to get away with the crime. We allow many of our leaders to step on our dignity without us knowing about it.

We haven’t learned much from Typhoon Ondoy. In fact, we’ve forgotten our leaders who fell short of our expectations. We forgave them too soon and elected them again in office. When election day came, and many of us got a little favor from some candidates, we easily gave them our vote—the power that could have been used to spare us from natural and man-made disasters.

As of this writing, rains are still pouring by and by. And I can still feel the pains and sadness in our neighborhood, all are helpless but hopeful to get the least possible damage and loss.

I can’t help but think about the coming years and months.

What we have right now is nothing less of a product of what we did and didn’t do in the past. Much like how our country is submerged in water, we are submerged in tradition of partisan politics and politics of patronage where we think about our affiliation over intention to serve and patronize the person not their public service. We are submerged in belief that one day, without doing anything better, our country will be better. We are submerged with game of chances that we leave everything in fate. We are submerged in our own incapacity to challenge the status quo and hold our leaders accountable for their wrongdoings.

Nevertheless, I know we will all be back. We will bounce back and restore whatever is taken from us. We will get back on our feet and move on with our lives with hope and enthusiasm. We will all have because we don’t have any other choice. Bouncing back is the only way and we will live our lives in that same old truth.

Our spirit has never been stronger. Our resolve never more firm. Our unity never more obvious. We will never give the fight up as a people. One day, we will find true and compassionate leaders who will sit to passionately represent the our ideals. One day, we will have leaders who will put the interest of those who gave them power over their personal interest. One day, we will have leaders who will share his life to his people.

We have been submerged in water as much as we have been submerged in our incapacity to work for a better life that starts with making the right choices for everyone. We elect people who represent their own interest instead of ours. No wonder why in times like these, we take the punishment of nature on their behalf.

This unfortunate event represents one thing that everyone should reflect on. We have the power to change the course of our country. We always have.

We thank the men and women in uniform, volunteers, foundations and NGOs, and some government agencies for providing every available help you are extending to our people. May God bless you and your family.