A mass grave and muted grief in the land of gold
Exhausted@by@work@at@the@mines@and@about@ to@return@to@their@families,@these@workers@ —@in@a@sense,@they@are@like@small@farmers@ worn@down@by@farm@work@—@are@different@ from many urban dwellers. They don’t take selfies; they don’t post about their ordinary lives,@then@count@the@“likes”@and@“shares”@as@ if@these@were@the@only@things@that@mattered@ in@the@worldN@Their@life@is@the@more@somber,@ off-the-grid kind, shaped by an untamed environment@that@is@vulnerable@to@landslides,@ flash floods and collapsed mine tunnels. So, on the way home, they probably talked about@their@ordinary@lives@and@their@families@ —@and@their@little@dreamsN
When natural tragedies such as wildfires, earthquakes and killer floods befall ordinary@lives@and@settlements@in@functional@ democracies,@there@is@always@national@soulsearching@in@their@aftermathN@Questions,@ serious and probing, are asked. These include@the@often-asked@question@of@how@ the@natural@tragedies@that@just@occurred@ are@linked@to@climate@changeN@If@necessary,@ there are policy recommendations to either cushion the impact of similar tragedies in the@future@or@grant@generous@amelioration@ to those who survived the catastrophes. Or policies that, in general, cover the area of rebuilding@from@the@ruinsN
For@ quite@ some@ time,@ these@ tragedies@ remain part of the national conversation in@these@functional@democraciesN
In@the@case@of@the@deadly@landslides@in@ Masara, one interested in the updates on the@original@newsbreak@would@have@to@go@to@ the@websites@of@Al@Jazeera,@the@Washington@ post@or@other@foreign@news@outlets@for@the@ latest@news@—@because@after@a@few@screaming@ headlines,@local@media@have@all@but@forgotten@ the ongoing rescue efforts and the updated fatality count. Currently, only the rescue teams@from@the@affected@villages,@the@local@ government units and troops from the Eastern Mindanao Command have been doing the desperate and tough task of combing through the mountains of mud to find lives that@can@be@savedN
The@bigger@failing@is@thisZ@there@was@no@ expressed interest on the part of our political overlords to find the cause of these landslides,@which,@in@turn,@led@to@the@mass@ grave@ in@ Masara@ and@ the@ muted@ sorrow@ of the grieving communities. Or, no one prominent in the executive or legislative branches@asked@this@basic@questionZ@what@ logging company or companies cut down the@ forested@ areas@ in@ the@ mountains@ of@ Maco,@then@failed@to@reforest@these?@Replanting logged-over areas is enshrined in our forestry laws, and logging companies with@timber@concessions@(lasting@25@years@ and@renewable@for@another@25)@have@that@ legal responsibility. What kind of policy allows settlements to be built precariously below@dangerous@logged-over@areas?
Is the lack of interest in the Davao de Oro tragedy related to the province’s remoteness@and@the@fact@that@it@does@not@have@the@ votes of Negros Occidental or Pangasinan or Cebu? Or, is it because Davao de Oro is out of the media loop and politicians can’t play-act empathy and get attention in too remote@a@setting?@Maybe@bothN@@Whatever@ the@reason,@this@is@something@true@about@ Philippine society across generations: ordinary lives occupy a very limited space in@the@national@conversationN
The haunting scenes from the mud pilecum-mass@grave@are@enough@to@break@the@ hearts of people in truly empathetic societies. Not here, where the pooh-bahs in the halls of power and gated villages have never@cared@whether@the@less@fortunate@live@ or die. Or perish in deadly landslides.
The main topics that preoccupied the powerful amid the muted grief in Masara and the desperate efforts of the rescue teams to find a few more lives to pull out from@the@mud@are@the@usual@ghastly@stuff,@ the usual affairs of the powerful with no bearing@ on@ ordinary@ livesZ@ a@ nearly@ p27billion@fund@inserted@at@the@last@minute@ into the national budget to bribe the poor and hungry into signing a sham people’s initiative for Charter change, or the posse around House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez,@ all@ billionaire@ contractorscum-lawmakers, defending that people’s initiative@and@calling@it@“a@facilitation@of@ the democratic process.”
In the corporate sphere, the talk was about an airport privatization bid where the cleverest billionaire, presumably with an AI-powered calculator, outbid the less clever@ones@who@most@likely@used@the@ancient abacus. Pundits, predictably, called the cleverest one a “patriot.”
Welcome to Bagong Pilipinas, with all@the@cynicism,@the@scheming@and@the@ tragicomedy@it@evokesN