As I sat down to write this piece, I struggled with finding the right metaphor to use to drive my point across. I decided to look back into history and quickly realized that history no longer matter these days. With all the misinformation, disinformation and alternative facts peddled by trolls at the behest of their benefactors, history has been muddled and even worse, rewritten at times.
I am not even sure if history is still being taught in our schools today. What is prevalent in our society today is the whitewashing of facts, the propagation of lies and the deflection of blame to avoid responsibility and accountability for one’s actions. CORRUPTION, GREED, INCOMPETENCE and LUST FOR POWER have become the norm from the Purok level to the highest levels of government especially in the City of Bacolod in particular, and the whole country in general.
I decided to consult the Good Book and came across Genesis 19-24, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The tale of two cities destroyed by God with fire and sulfur because of their sinful and wicked ways. I must admit that the comparison is hyperbolic and surely, catastrophic events like this may never happen but, we have witnessed not-so-ordinary events happening these days. Volcanic eruptions for instance are the closest comparisons to fire and brimstone raining down on cities, flooding and extraordinarily strong typhoons and weather anomalies are happening more frequently than in the past.
But I digress, this piece was not meant to scare the readers. Not that there is a need for God to destroy our towns and cities, and our country for that matter, we are already doing a good job of it ourselves.
At the end of the day, we have made our choices and we have to contend with the consequences. When we sell our votes and elect corrupt officials whose primary goal is not to serve the public but to enrich themselves and stay in power for as long as they could, we have no one to blame but ourselves. When we remain silent and close our eyes to the blatant corruption happening in our society, we become complicit and part of the problem. When we shrug our shoulders and become apathetic to what is going on around us, we not only exacerbate the problem but also create a precedent that it is okay for these things to happen. When we tolerate greed and incompetence and do not demand for responsibility and accountability, we deserve the government that we get.
The most recent cases in point were the cutting of decades old trees along the national highway. After the initial outrage, we have allowed the issue to be swept under the rug and nothing was heard about it since then. Has anyone taken responsibility for this atrocious action? Was anyone held accountable? Now comes the illegal reclamation of Sum-ag River? Has anyone taken responsibility? Will anyone be held accountable? The people deserve answers no less.
These events seem to put the DENR at the crosshairs. It appears that the agency is engaged in the destruction and plunder of our natural resources instead of protecting and preserving them for future generations. The late Secretary Gina Lopez would be turning in her grave right about now. — NWI
