NEW BRAND OF ‘ERAPTIONS’
People can be downright funny. And they include politicians who can’t seem to let go of the itch to grandstand whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Take the case of the ongoing Taal rumblings. You see, that small yet deadly volcano down south is supposed to be the star of the show, not armchair critics, vloggers, and yes, lawmakers. But whoa, suddenly everybody has become experts, suggesting comical, albeit silly suggestions on the situation. They blurt out ridiculous comments without knowing fully well how volcanoes work.
A lawmaker, a leader of one chamber at that, has even usurped what is supposed to be the work of scientists and suggested that cloud seeding be done so that the resulting rain could wash off the ash and other debris blown off by Taal.
We’re pretty sure he has lived through the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption and the subsequent rainy season that produced the infamous lahar mess. It took Pampanga the better part of the decade to recover from that devastation and even forced the United States to leave their base there. And he wants to directly cause that now?
According to an expert we know, this isn’t even considering the sheer amount of sulfur in the Taal area for cloud seeding to turn into sulfuric acid rain if given the chance. And we’re supposed to listen to this guy about anything other than how to run a successful noontime show?
That’s just for starters.
How about the eldest of the broadcast brothers who had this brilliant tweet castigating the people of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) for not issuing a warning of the Taal Volcano eruption? The guy who got into a fistfight with a now estranged celebrity couple at the airport wants the Phivolcs staff executed for this, not knowing that since March 2019 there had been multiple updates of possible volcanic activity as it happened. He should likewise know that the scientists in that agency are not fortune tellers who can predict what is going to happen next.
By the way, this man has got a brother, also in the broadcasting industry, who is just as ridiculous. He is, we believe, the youngest of the four brothers, who got into hot water for lambasting a general. It turned out the general has the backing of his mistahs that forced him to issue apologies. His latest caper? He castigated evacuees who left their animals behind in Taal Volcano Island, calling them names without knowing that these people had no choice since they had to load so much stuff into their small bancas during their escape from the wrath of the volcano.
These animals, Mr. Critic, are their source of livelihood, and leaving them, we believe is not a matter of conscience They just didn’t have a choice. One evacuee, perhaps irked by such comments, recorded himself returning to the eruption site to retrieve his horse and showed it on social media to probably give this critic a dose of his own medicine.
Oh, we also have the mayor of a tourist-oriented upland city by the ridge who hopes to reopen businesses there by the weekend, never mind the multiple health advisories handed out that imply otherwise. As far as we know, fumes coming from the volcano are still a genuine health concern. But last we heard, she wants us to go see the volcano in its majesty while acting up. Someone needs to have their priorities in check. But nothing takes the cake than the lawmaker from an adjacent province who passed a resolution urging the House of Representatives to probe “the lack of dissemination of information” of the Phivolcs as to the hazards of eruption.
We dare say this is the height of callousness among our solons, who’d rather do things in aid of election, instead of genuinely helping first those who badly need help.
Didn’t this lawmaker know that as early as November last year, the Phivolcs has been in constant coordination with Batangas Province and other concerned agencies regarding the Taal Volcano activity? The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council said the contingency plans for the emergency were already developed even before the actual eruption took place.
Proper education and preparation, according to the NDRRMC, have been done so much so that people themselves evacuated on their own when Taal started showing signs of renewed activity. There’s no such thing as being caught off guard as that lawmaker has insinuated. So far, there has been zero casualty.
We really thought former President Erap’s so called “Eraptions” are now a thing of the past. We were wrong. There’s a new breed of people who has emerged. And they’re not afraid to show their follies and their own brand of comical “eraptions.”
“Proper education and preparation… have been done so much so that people themselves evacuated on their own when Taal started showing signs of renewed activity.
“Suddenly everybody has become experts, suggesting comical, albeit silly suggestions on the situation. They blurt out ridiculous comments without knowing fully well how volcanoes work.