WE can’t blame Bicolana balikbayan Teresa Ala (she lives in Alberta, Canada) for her deep concern about typhoon relief donations going nowhere, if not to somebody else’s cupboard, dining table or kitchen, other than the typhoon victims themselves who have been mercilessly ravaged by the two supertyphoons that hit Bicol late last year.

        Writing a letter to the Philippine Daily Inquirer via e-mail, Ms. Ala said that when she visited Bicol last Dec. 23, she saw how terrible the devastation wrought by the supertyphoons was, particularly in the town of Guinobatan and the village of Padang in Legazpi City, where people who have lost their homes still do not have roofs on their heads despite the $1 million (which is around P41 million at current exchange rate) donation that Canada sent. “Is anybody wondering where the money went, or is this the work of some corrupt government I witnessed before and which prompted me to leave the Philippines?” she asked in utter anger and bemusement.

        We can’t blame the Bicolana balikbayan for feeling shortchanged and betrayed. She hit the nail on its head when she added that they “have been having fund drives in Canada and tried to bring funds directly to the people because the local governments are corrupt – a reflection of the national government that we have.”

        Willy Prilles of Naga City Hall who maintains his daily blog empathized with Ala’s apprehensions. He stated that if there are people who profit from the tremendous suffering caused by the calamities that hit Bicol, our opportunistic politicians easily top the honor roll. He noted that there had been two successive columns by Neal Cruz on the same national newspaper about Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman pulling off a typical gimmick everytime disaster comes.

        We also heard about Iriga Mayor Madel Alfelor-Gazmen asking in a huff what happened to the truckloads of relief goods supposedly intended for her city by the Malacañan-backed Caravan of Mercy. She claimed the relief goods bound for her city suddenly disappeared upon their consignment thru the Camarines Sur provincial government. The lady mayor of Sipocot, too, who happens to belong to the other side of the political fence opposite the governor’s aired the same lament saying that not a single package reached her town despite being identified as one of the relief operations beneficiaries. And there have been uglier reports that relief goods donated by various groups from Manila and some government agencies are rotting in a dark corner at the Camarines Sur provincial capitol complex because workers needed more time to repack them in plastic bags bearing the governor’s name and smiling face.

        Prilles matter-of-factly stated that we can expect these stocked up relief goods to suddenly flood the region come election time, courtesy of the “generous” repacking (we hope the spelling is right) politicians.