On Trillanes’ security and floods

By Batas Mauricio

THE truth that cannot be denied is this: supporters of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV need not be bothered and need not be alarmed after the Philippine National Police (PNP) removed some of the police officers who were earlier assigned as his security escorts. When push comes to shove, so to speak, there are no policemen, no matter how great their numbers would be, who could stop a determined assassin.

What Trillanes and his supporters should instead do is faithfully seek God. Only God can give the needed security and protection that any man would require. What happens to us in this life that had been given us would be happening only if God allows them to happen, and there is nothing that can ever happen without Him previously permitting it to happen.

On account of this truth, I am earnestly proposing that Trillanes should endeavor to truly seek God, and ask for His blessings, guidance, and protection for him, at all times. The only problem here, of course, is, if Trillanes does not know the way to truly approach and seek God.

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Susan Ople (daughter of the late Sen. Blas F. Ople and now the incumbent head of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute), blasted what she said was the sorry lack of an effective solution to the perennial flooding in her town of Hagonoy, Bulacan.

Here was her Facebook post, which I took the liberty of translating into English for this column: “In times past, flooding only came when there was a typhoon. Now, floods come rushing in, even if only a mere high tide hits the town of Hagonoy. Up to when will our people suffer? I have a plea for the authorities: please find a solution to the floods which submerge not only Hagonoy but the entire Bulacan as well…”

I do commiserate, of course, with Ms. Ople’s plight and expression of dismay. But she and her townmates should realize that solutions should be sought not only by those in the government, but even by the private sector as well, which necessarily includes her and all of us, whether rich or poor, young and old, or men or women.

Everyone should be concerned, because the undeniable fact is that, each and every Filipino gets victimized, in one way or another, whenever the floods come, which respect no gender, nor age, nor social status, or political leanings.

The real problem over floods, however, is not just the floods themselves. The problem is that, it would seem we can no longer expect any effective solution to come from the government. This is not to disparage our officials nor is aimed to put them in a bad light, but is it not a fact that government functionaries know, deep in their bones, that floods do come whenever there is a typhoon or whenever high tide occurs?

Yes, they do know that when rains come, floodwaters are bound to, as they do, immediately rush towards our low-lying cities and municipalities in the four corners of the Philippine archipelago, causing untold sufferings to the people, especially to minor school children who miss their classes and the opportunity to learn. This is true even if they hold so-called make-up classes subsequently.

Then, because dirt and filth and slime and trash and garbage and waste matters go from one place to another, including the urine or refuse of rodents and other deadly insects, many Filipinos get sick, and some even die, because of leptospirosis and other water-born illnesses. Clearly, everyone but everyone in government know (or ought to know) that floods are coming and would cause death and destruction, but nobody seems capable or is possessed with the requisite interest to do anything to protect our citizenry.