Public endangerment through corruption

The scenes were reminiscent of the devastation wreaked by Tropical Storm Ondoy in 2009: the rainfall came in torrents within a short period, spawning floods that rose with such speed that few people could bring their vehicles and personal belongings to higher ground, with the water rising nearly up to the second level of homes.

This wasn’t Metro Manila in 2009, but the past two days in Metro Cebu, where residents clambered on to their rooftops to escape the catastrophic floods that hit many communities for the first time.

The heavy rainfall and flooding were brought by Typhoon Tino, which barreled across the Visayas and parts of Mindanao. As of last night, civil defense officials counted 26 people dead and more missing in Cebu and other provinces due to Tino. Many communities remained submerged in muddy floodwater.

In the Eastern Samar town of Guiuan, a state of calamity was declared yesterday. The town was where Super Typhoon Yolanda first made landfall in November 2013, flattening much of the island municipality.

Guiuan, Cebu and other areas hit by Tino will still be busy coping with the destruction as yet another tropical cyclone, to be named Uwan, is expected this week, with the possibility of intensifying into a super typhoon.

The flooding stunned Cebuanos, but extreme weather is becoming increasingly common around the planet. Scientists have attributed the phenomenon to climate change, and have warned that the Philippines is one of the most vulnerable to the devastating impact of global warming.

Such warnings give more urgency to the provision of efficient flood control and other mitigation measures against natural calamities. The existential threat makes the corruption now being unearthed in flood control and other infrastructure projects all the more vile.

Infrastructure interventions take time to implement. The disclosure by government engineers themselves that many flood interventions are substandard and even non-existent or ghost projects means the country will be at higher risk of suffering from extreme weather for some time.

Such risks are on top of the other natural disasters that hit the country regularly, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The criminals who have put the people in harm’s way by pocketing billions meant for projects that are supposed to protect lives, property and crops deserve the stiffest punishment.