By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
PBBM opened a Pandora’s box when he included in his 4th State of the Nation Address last July 28, 2025 the issue of corruption in flood control projects throughout the Philippines.
It had since captured the attention of most of us nationwide and it spawned a frantic, nervous reaction from every concerned sector, especially those from both houses of Congress and the Department of Public Works and Highways. Naturally, the reactions are from both sides of the fence; positive and negative.
It was a masterstroke of sort in diverting attention from other existing past time of Filipinos such as the telenovela impeachment of VP Sara. Somehow, it also camouflaged the issues related to rice importation, rice tariffication law, low farmgate price of rice, etc.
And so, we are now treated to a grand show. It is of course related to the investigation of the flood control projects. Free ticket.
The lead actors include some of those who take immense pride in being called honorable, the greedy individuals who had perfected the dishonorable art of dancing with the honorable, the marauders of government coffers, the people who unabashedly flaunt their new-found wealth (sometimes obtained using only their glib tongues and nothing to show as accomplishment for projects they easily grabbed except false certifications that they are already completed).
The stage is the entire swath of the so-called Perlas ng Silangan, our beloved country.
Instead of being uplifted or pleasantly entertained, us viewers, are sweating profusely, even contracting fever due to high temperature, as our blood boils in utter disbelief. Certainly, there is the unfolding greatness of the actors in feigning fair play and good governance. Fake news.
Am sure though that the show will not produce best actors. But maybe, just maybe, there will be awards as best cover-ups. Or, the show will not be given a certificate of completion. It could be an unending story with the actors just forever circling around as the writer and the director don’t know how to end it. Oh my ghost!
By the way, the second lead actors include, whether you believe it or not, the muzzled audience. It is us. Why, we were the ones who unwittingly put the honorable into a pedestal. Many of us, the audience, were even expectantly waiting for the grace to be dispensed with by the aspiring honorable. The amount they will hand out is peanuts compared to the huge, avalanche of resources that they will get once they are ensconced as honorable.
This is why, after elections there are losers who complain of being cheated; they continue to fight, they even want the winner, even if he won by landslide, to be disqualified. Horror.
Meanwhile, we are ironically drowning from uncontrolled floods due to the presence of flood control projects
There is another show that we are witnessing in La Trinidad. It is not related though in any way, to the grand show that we briefly discussed above.
Several times this year, the Swamp area, better known as Strawberry Field, was inundated due to torrential rains. This is expected as the area is the lowest portion of the La Trinidad valley. The frequency of such flooding was not the same say, 3 or 5 years ago. Some say it is due to climate change. That is a very myopic view of seeing things.
Looking at the pictures I took of the valley 5 years ago, the concrete buildings then were much less dense. Also, there were definitely lesser paved spaces or roads. This resulted to water coming from “upstream” roll more freely now than before to the area, as downward water movement is severely restricted. Since the existing creek and drainage canals are narrow and silted, the rain water is trapped momentarily in the area, creeks or canals overflow causing the flooding.
It is time to widen and desilt the existing creeks and canals; dig more canals as necessary. This is the only way at the moment to prevent more frequent flooding in the Swamp area.**
