When Typhoon Yolanda hit Samar and Leyte with unprecedented force, we can only blame climate change. What followed after, however, is inexcusable.
The sloppy rescue and relief operations that followed the typhoon were a foretaste of many more bad things to come. The rehabilitation of the devastated areas was accompanied by unspeakable corruption, dealing the damaged communities even more blows.
Many shelters hurriedly built to accommodate the victims were found to be both overpriced and substandard. Many local politicians suspiciously set up businesses dealing in construction supplies. Many facilities rebuilt through the generosity of private companies and NGOs were double-billed to public funds. The list of unspeakable acts of opportunism and corruption just goes on and on.
Voluminous complaints were filed before the Ombudsman-Visayas, testimony to the scale and extent of corruption threatening to torpedo the great effort at rehabilitation in the wake of calamity. Most of these complaints were against local officials of the very towns most devastated by the calamity and most urgently in need of rehabilitation.
Take the case of Guiuan, Eastern Samar.
The once picturesque town facing the Pacific had great promise as a tourism destination until it took the brunt of Yolanda. This was Ground Zero of the typhoon. In the aftermath of the calamity, it looked as if a nuclear bomb was dropped on the place.
In March 2016, several residents of the hapless town filed a complaint with the Ombudsman against their own Mayor Sheen Gonzales, the mayor’s two brothers, the municipal engineer and the regional director of the DILG. The amply documented complaint is a virtual textbook on how the unscrupulous may profit from a tragedy.
This complaint provides interesting reading on how an urgent reconstruction effort could be so thoroughly bled by callous local officials. It documents in vivid detail how reconstruction costs could be grossly inflated to make plunder possible.
Included in the complaint are affidavits of former employees of dummy enterprises used either to supply construction materials or serve as payment conduits. One affidavit signed by an employee of the former Guiuan Motors narrates how the company was renamed Guiuan Builders and registered under the name of the mayor’s wife.
There is also a letter sent by Hinatuan Mining Corp. claiming that the company spent for the reconstruction of several barangay halls. The municipal government, notwithstanding the fact the halls were rebuilt using private donations, requested funding from the DILG for the same. The money was released by the DILG and possibly liquidated anomalously.
To be sure, the Ombudsman-Visayas office is deluged with numerous complaints like this one. But it is now the second anniversary of the complaint filed by the Guiuan residents and nothing seems to be moving.
The complainants fear that, in the face of inaction, the well documented complaint even if it is eventually endorsed to the Sandiganbayan could be dismissed on the grounds of “inordinate delay.” Over the last few months, the special court dismissed many cases that took too long to be filed.
The clock is ticking for the Ombudsman-Visayas. Urgent as the reconstruction effort is, the misdemeanor committed by local officials must not be allowed to pass. Otherwise, the painful consequences of the natural calamity will be magnified for the victims.
Savings
No matter the political noise that happens after every election, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is mandated to continuously prepare for the next round of voting.
The poll body, although it is currently undermanned, has done its work in a timely manner. Although a committee at the House of Representatives passed a resolution calling for yet another postponement, the Comelec has declared readiness to conduct the barangay elections scheduled only weeks from today. The ballots have been printed and the election paraphernalia are ready for deployment.
Last January, President Duterte appointed Sheriff Abbas the new Comelec chairman in lieu of resigned Andres Bautista. The Commission on Appointments has yet to confirm that appointment.
Meanwhile, two commissioners (Christian Robert Lim and Arthur Lim) have retired. Replacements for them have yet to be named.
Fortunately, before the two commissioners retired, the Comelec was able to complete acquisition of 97,000 vote counting machines (VCMs). Lest we forget, the midterm elections, including for half the Senate, is only 13 months from today. The same machines will very likely be used for the 2022 presidential elections as well.
The VCMs acquired by the poll body are the same ones rented from Smartmatic for the 2016 elections for P8 billion. They were acquired for P2.21 billion as provided for by the earlier rental arrangement. If we chose to rent them all over again, we would have paid another P8 billion. Taking advantage of the contract provisions for outright acquisition of the machines resulted in savings of P5.8 billion.
With the increasing number of voters and public preference for directly electing national leaders, we cannot turn back from automated elections. The machines, maintained and regularly upgraded by Smartmatic as provided for in the contract, will be fully deployed in the succeeding electoral exercises to keep to the ratio of 800 voters per machine.
Allegations of tampering with the results have been made, of course. These are allegations that, if proven, can be guarded against by better procedures or improved software. We can use the same hardware nevertheless.
With all the VCMs already owned by the Comelec, reusing them as many more times as possible is the least costly option. The costs of acquiring new hardware are simply staggering.