Abnoy Chronicles: Weather-Weather Lang Yan

Sendong dumped 50 mm/hr of rainfall

Makes me wonder what kind of preparation the government did on Sendong. As early as Monday last week regional directors of OCD from Regions VI to XII were sent back to their respective offices. They were not able to attend the agency's Xmas party last Friday so they can have time to prepare for Sendong. The amount of destruction and number of lives lost speak of an inferior disaster response management system.

One of the things that can get into Noynoy Aquino's nerve is critique of his zero-casualty disaster management program, if there is even one.

Noynoy Aquino and his cohorts politicized Ondoy and used it against administration candidate Gibo Teodoro who was in an unfortunate predicament of being head of the national disaster response agency by virtue of being Department of National Defense secretary. Pro-Aquino propagandists and the powerful yellow media focused on the devastation and not on the quality of response that was done.

PeNoy politicized PAG-ASA when he booted out Dir. Prisco Nilo. And on the pretext that the weather agency failed to do an accurate reading on Typhoon Basyang kicked poor Dir. Nilo and replaced with USec. Graciano Yumul. While as able and competent as his predecessor, Yumul got the position because DOST Sec. Mario Montejo has "irreconcilable differences" with then PAG-ASA chief, Dir. Nilo. Of course we all know that there's no qualitative improvement after Dir. Nilo's departure from PAG-ASA. It's all stinking politics!

After Pedring and now Sendong, Noynoy Aquino should have learned by now that weather knows no political master. If Aquino gained votes by heartlessly turning a disaster like Ondoy into a political fortune, it could be a natural calamity that will bring him down. As the popular Filipino saying goes - weather-weather lang yan!