The Philippine Online Chronicles

Year in and year out, the perennial problem of weather forecasting is to be blamed for billions of pesos' worth of damage and disruption due to typhoons. That does not account for the lives lost or ruined by calamities. The inability of PAGASA to execute its function is a known problem, and has been since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's first term. It was also a well-known problem post-Ondoy.

The government seeks to plug inefficiencies, and seeks to raise revenue collection. There comes a point where simply buying into things that in the long run would save money rather than simply patching holes in the problem ultimately saves money. While the Aquino administration is in a position to do this, could it? More importantly, should it?

Another question is this. How disciplined would Aquino's administration be as it keeps its eye on the ball--- fight corruption and at the same time fighting a war on multiple fronts where one such front is the issue of climate change. Remember there is a virtual rogues gallery of issues that need to be addressed in concert.

Climate change is an issue, despite the Philippines not having much of a carbon footprint. Understandably, it is the more industrialized nations who do, and our nation, by virtue of its location finds itself facing it. Remember too that the country faces something like 19 storms per year.

It is also understandable to blame on the previous regime. The issue is well known. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. While it is most certain that the nation is taking a beating because of Arroyo's lack of foresight and generously, her in ability to solve the Philippine puzzle, what is the point of putting Arroyo to blame? Now it is also simply pointless to place blame. These are the cards we are dealt with. Why shouldn't we simply take what is given and do what we must?

While the issue is ripe in people's minds, and they will most certainly blame Aquino for it, and while it is quite understandable to simply rally to this issue and make it front and center. There is much that the nation needs to "fix," and Aquino is hard pressed to do it. It is understandable.

The systemic corruption in government, the billions of pesos worth of deficit and a government that can not sustain economic growth because weighed down by debt and poor revenue collection, can not afford to invest.

Here we will see the Aquino government put to test. How disciplined would it be to keep its eye on the ball, in spite the clamoring of its critics to deviate, to be sidetracked? How much can it do to modernized civil defense as part of its broad strategy, and how can it meet all these little demands, which to be blunt, aren't themselves unreasonable. Then there are issues of education. Health care. peace processes.

Discipline. Triage.

Would discipline and triage be the price of leadership? So it becomes a harder task. The answer would be to see the plan unfold during Aquino's first state of the nation address. We have seen him able to convince a nation by his example how he plans to set society's compass right.

How then does Aquino convince the nation this is the road we are taking. This is the battle we must fight, and some of your demands will most certainly not be met. How then to instill discipline in the ranks? How then to instill discipline in themselves not to deviate too much from the plan? How then to keep laser focused at the end goal and would the administration perform triage?

How then does Aquino's government transform that campaign discipline and expertise into governance?

Without doubt, Aquino can set an example and with his wang-wang, is a shot across the bow that there is a new sherif in town. Basyang is a wakeup call not just to Aquino's government but we the people. There is much to do, and while government can not fix all our problems, perhaps in each of us, we can find solutions to keep on working through the storm; that we ourselves be part of a community that rises up in these times of crisis. Perhaps, to open our WiFi to keep the lines of communication going; to roll out generators to charge phones and to help sweep the streets.

Yes, PAGASA is incapable of forecasting and after years of knowing the problem, we can no longer blame them for it, but the lack of our leaders' foresight to beef up civil defense in an age where it is quite obvious that it is part of a broader national agenda. Let us all accept that they can't do the job because they neigther have the proper tools and total expertise. Yet to stop there is counterproductive and what simply remains is to take what is given, and do what we must. How then does the broader picture of Civil Defense and Disaster Management fit into the Aquino Agenda? As a people, how then do we fit our lives around the absolute fact that our country is typhoon country? In a nutshell, for both government and people: less complaining, more adapting.

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Image via Weather Underground