Missing again (naturally)

By Artchil B. Fernandez

The #NasaanAngPangulo went trending at the height of typhoon Paeng’s fury. The typhoon hit the country last week leaving large areas in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao flooded. Typhoon Paeng left the country with 121 people dead (as of this writing) and 36 individuals missing. More than 3 million people were affected by the typhoon.

Damage to agricultural crops and properties was extensive. The Department of Agriculture (DA) estimated 1.3 billion pesos losses in agricultural production. The cost of damage to infrastructure is estimated at 896 million pesos. The figures are expected to rise as the reports are yet to be completed.

As typhoon Paeng was wrecking extensive damage, BBM went missing again (naturally). Last September, when typhoon Karding battered Metro Manila and many parts of Luzon, #NasaanAngPangulo also trended on Twitter. At that time, while the people of Luzon felt the rage of typhoon Karding, BBM was posting on his vlog “BBM Vlog 226: New York, New York” video showing his trip to New York City during the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

If BBM was busy vlogging when typhoon Karding was unleashing its 185 km per hour wind over Luzon, he was seen in the kitchen through a video conference in the aftermath of typhoon Paeng’s devastation. Going missing when calamity strikes is becoming a BBM pattern.  BBM had a strange affair with typhoons.

With his whereabouts unknown as typhoon Paeng struck, stories circulated in social and traditional media that BBM was in Japan, having a vacation with his family. The stories were vehemently denied by Malacañang. Officer-in-charge of the Office of the Press Secretary Cheloy Garafil issued a statement to quash the rumors. He however refused to give the exact location of BBM as typhoon Paeng was flooding many parts of the country.

The day after typhoon Paeng left the country, BBM appeared, presiding a meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) via zoom. The background was a kitchen or pantry, with a sink, water faucet, oven toaster and bread toaster visible behind him. The background was later blurred when the video was aired in a government television station.

What is astounding is BBM’s reaction in the meeting he presided virtually when informed that 67 people died in a landslide in Maguindanao del Norte. “I would like to start with the flooding in Maguindanao, simply because we have to already look at it dahil ang daming casualty (because there are many casualties),” he told the NDRRMC.  “It will be important to us to look back and see why this happened, na hindi natin naagapan ito na 67 ang casualty (that we could not prevent this 67 casualties), that seems very high for a flooding incident.”

BBM’s response to the tragedy in Maguindanao is outrageous if not repugnant. He should address the question to his own self. It is not that he could have done better but BBM could have done something.

To answer BBM’s query, there are high casualties because he failed to do something.  He should have been pro-active, preparing the country for the eventualities before typhoon Paeng entered the country. The pathway of the typhoon had been tracked as well as its strength even before it entered the country’s area of responsibility. The information on the typhoon’s characteristics and the given time frame are enough for BBM to make urgent preparations.  But what did he do?

Instead of calling for an early meeting of the NDRRMC to make the necessary preparations and take extra precautions, BBM went missing. Most likely he went on a vacation taking advantage of the long weekend. It does not matter whether BBM was in Japan or in Laoag. The point is, BBM, despite knowing a typhoon is about to hit the country on the eve of a long weekend, went on a holiday instead of doing his job as president.

The deaths not just of the 67 in the landslide in Maguindanao but of the 121 over-all are in the hands of BBM. Had preparations and precautions been taken, the death toll could have been minimized. Fewer people would have died in Paeng’s wrath had BBM did his job instead of having a good time.

To cover-up his laziness, ineptness, and incompetence, BBM did a flurry of photo-ops – visiting Paeng’s victims, distributing relief goods and presiding some meetings. Too little, too late. A public relations offensive will not erase the fact that at the height of the calamity where BBM’s presence and leadership really matters the most, he was missing and worse having a good time, whether cooking, vlogging or partying.

It is now becoming more and more evident that BBM is suffering from a serious leadership deficit. His view of leadership is grimly flawed. For him leadership is appointing people to positions and let them do the job for him. The presidency for him is presiding over zoom meetings, listening to briefings and receiving reports after which he can return to do what he likes best – having the time of his life. This is a very entitled and spoiled view of leadership which is so divorced from what genuine leadership is.

Given his lousy leadership, the campaign promises of BBM will remain empty promises.  He is not interested in lowering the price of rice to 20 pesos per kilo or make life better for Filipinos. The non-existing “Golden Age” will not come. The agenda of the Marcoses is simple: return to power. The country can go to hell for all they care now that they got what they wanted. This is a fate worse than all the typhoons that visited the country.