In Manila, there are inquiries as to why the esteros, banks of rivers and creeks, and spaces under the flyover bridges are not seriously cleared of informal settlers. Truth is, these spaces are becoming crowded with shanties that sprout overnight.
There are reasons behind this. One is the necessity of it and second, it’s political. The residents here are gathered for public rallies. They comprise the “hakot” crowd for P200 per head, enough to help one get by in the day. Some are even paid P500 per head, depending on the importance of the issue they’re rallying behind.
The “work” is under the care of a coordinator who knows the requirements in coming up with the “hakot” crowd. He produces the numbers for election campaigns, and rallies for or against an issue that needs to catch the attention of the government. This is why politicians take good care of barangay officials. Coordination is very important as relocation projects or relocating squatters to other barangays means losing a good number of votes.
This is also why informal settlers along the esteros and under the overpasses are maintained. Collateral to that situation is that LGU politicians have reasons to spend calamity funds, distribute food, medicine, clothing and all, enough for the recipients to remember them next election.
In the Cordillera, politics during calamities is a different picture altogether. Consider the recent roadcut at the Pilando section of Km 73 along Halsema, in the municipality of Buguias where volunteerism paired with politics took active roles in opening an alternate road.
Call it roadcut politics because supporters of politicians employed all means to catch the attention of voters by using social media platforms, particularly Facebook. Here, comments, both positive and negative, were posted sparking an online war.
But mind you, what really sparked violent comments were the false or unverified information posted online by false identities. In other words, there were fake names created by persons whose intentions did not help lessen the problems.
This should caution all parties especially since, according to PAGASA, two to three tropical cyclones may enter the country this month. In October, two to three tropical cyclones are also expected. One to two tropical cyclones may hit the country in November and December.
With that PAGASA forecast, God forbid but there might be more disasters coming. If so, politicians have all the time to make “pogi” points and employ their talents, resulting in gains or losses, especially votes in the coming midterm elections this May 2025.
Concerning the Pilando roadcut section along Halsema highway, there were comments from misinformed individuals about unfounded claims that needed clarification. Naturally, the DPWH that’s in charge of roadworks became the “whipping boy” and always took the role of scapegoat when there was no one to blame.
However, that should be the opposite of what should have transpired because, if there are parties that should be consulted, that should be the DPWH considering the regularity of its role and the presumption that it is knowledgeable of what, why and how things happen in its area of responsibility. Furthermore, DPWH has nothing to gain from the controversies.
After sniffing the news for quite some time, I learned that in road stories, such as cuts, slips, erosions and slides, the person to talk to is the engineer in charge; not the doctor, politician, Chinese businessman, FB netizen or political supporter.
But in this world of politics and vested interests, certain quarters are out to discredit government personnel for unfounded claims. The faultfinders do not even try to find out the truth about such allegations, much less ask or verify from the government agency. They just keep posting what they know would provoke positive and negative comments.
A 40-meter portion of the Halsema highway, particularly at K0322+990-K0323+030 at Sitio Pilando, Barangay Gambang, previously had its outer lane eroded, leaving half of the road or one way lane open for commuters and motorists to use.
Prior to that on July 17, the DPWH bidded out a project to protect the already sinking road. To save the remaining half lane, slope protection and gabion works were supposed to proceed on August 19, 2024.
However, due to continuous rains and unforeseeable bad weather, the road that previously had its half lane washed out suffered another erosion at around 4pm on August 23, leaving no passable road lane for the public.
There was a social media post that maliciously accused DPWH engineers who were not named of disrupting and stopping volunteers from leveling the area above the roadcut. It was then clarified that the engineers merely requested the volunteer workers and equipment operator to stop for a short while for the former to assess the situation.
This was done to secure earlier efforts and infrastructure, such as gabion works that were already put in place prior to the roadcut on August 23, and save precious time, money and resources.
If there are people responsible for activities at the site, it should be the government engineers who have the authority to make instructions, not politicians and their supporters who have personal interests; not even Facebook users whose condemnations do not help ease the problem in any way.
Private contractors who loaned their equipment to work round-the-clock joined other volunteers in finishing the alternate road for vegetable farmers and businessmen. This was done in consonance with the instructions from DPWH bosses in Manila to immediately open an alternate route so as not to prolong the burden of the riding public.
It was also posted on social media that after a dialog among Benguet provincial, municipal and barangay officials, and the property owners, the latter agreed to lease the property where the proposed alternate route would be improved. But for how much and from where the money will really come from, no one knows. Maybe the gabion contractor will contribute.
A DPWH official in Natubleng, Buguias confirmed that provincial officials held a dialog onsite with government engineers to cap everything that was agreed on. Farmers and the riding public can now use the controversial alternate route.
All the while, I thought all is well that ends well, but no. There are still FB users and politicians capitalizing on the Pilando roadcut for whatever they can gain from it.
I call that calamity politics.
