The moment lawmakers were exposed for slipping billions into their office budgets—after the national budget had already been approved—I felt that familiar wave of disgust rise again. This was not some clerical oversight but a deliberate act of abuse. And it confirms a truth many Filipinos whisper but rarely say aloud: corruption in this country has grown bolder, greedier, and shamelessly more inventive.

Whenever I see these reports, I cannot help thinking of how these insertions bypass the very hearings designed to keep spending honest. There is something brazen about politicians quietly tucking in funds that were never debated, never questioned, never justified. It is as if the whole process of budget scrutiny exists only for agencies they do not control, while their own offices operate like private vaults. The brazenness insults every taxpayer who follows the law because they have no choice, while those in power twist the system until it breaks under their weight.

What unsettles me further is how these insertions can slip into personal pockets without passing through liquidation or audit. I have often wondered how one sleeps knowing billions of pesos meant for public service have turned into personal spoils. There is no artistry here, no cleverness—just the crude courage of someone convinced that the law cannot reach him. And the tragedy is that, in many cases, the law indeed cannot, or worse, will not.

Meanwhile, small government agencies, especially state universities and colleges, must endure hearings that feel like ritual humiliation. I’ve seen schools struggle to defend requests for buildings, equipment, or even a modest increase in MOOE, only to be dismissed as though they were begging for luxuries. The double standard is infuriating. These institutions hold the hopes of young people, yet their pleas are measured in pesos while politicians help themselves to billions with a pen stroke. When I think of how SUCs must justify every line item while certain offices enjoy windfalls with no questions asked, the injustice becomes almost unbearable.

This is where the abuse feels most personal to me. Every time a politician siphons public money, the effect ripples down to ordinary communities—students in overcrowded classrooms, patients in understaffed hospitals, farmers waiting for farm-to-market roads that never get built. The nation is robbed not only of funds but of possibilities. Corruption steals futures long before those futures are even imagined. And as I watch this pattern repeat year after year, the feeling it leaves is not just frustration but a kind of national exhaustion.

The bigger fear is bankruptcy—not just financial, but moral. If this plunder goes on, the country will eventually collapse under the weight of its own rot. No economy can sustain a government that treats the treasury as a feeding trough. No society can thrive when leaders gorge on what the people painstakingly earn. I dread the day when the damage becomes irreversible, when even honest leaders will find themselves governing ruins built by decades of theft.

Yet even in this bleak landscape, I believe the situation is not beyond remedy. What this country desperately needs is not another slogan or vague promise but a clean, forceful overhaul of how public money is handled. Transparency must stop being a buzzword and become a habit; accountability must stop being ceremonial and become punitive. There must be consequences—real, painful consequences—for those who treat the national budget as a personal jackpot.

And so, I come to this quiet conclusion: the only way forward is to tighten the rules so tightly that even the boldest thief cannot wriggle through. Strengthen the watchdogs, empower citizens, and strip the process of dark corners where greed loves to hide. We need to break this cycle of misery and give the nation a chance to breathe again.

AGAIN, as we begin another liturgical year with the season of Advent, we are reminded of our need to be always prepared for the end of our life and of time itself. “Watch ye therefore, because ye know not what hour your Lord will come,” Christ told his disciples, and now us, in the gospel of St. Matthew. (24,42)

This is a big challenge we have today, considering the tremendous amount of distractions we have, both the legitimate and the illegitimate ones, the latter far outnumbering the former.

We just have to be guarded against our tendency to be easily taken by many distractions around. For this, we need to discipline our feelings and passions. We have to give directions to our thoughts. But most importantly, we have to ground our heart on the richf and fertile soil of faith, hope and charity.

That’s why we should feel the constant need for some forms of self-denial, mortification and penance, so that our senses and our entire bodily system would be purified and, in a way, exercised to be more attentive to the things of God, to the spiritual and supernatural realities. Otherwise, they would just be immersed in the world of food, drinks and other worldly pleasures and concerns.

We have to convince ourselves that all this effort is all worthwhile. With patience and perseverance in this effort, we will soon realize that the joy God and the spiritual and supernatural realities give us cannot be compared to whatever pleasures the world can give.

As to our thoughts, we have to frequently examine ourselves as to what their contents and directions are. Are they just revolving around ourselves? Are they hooked only on the worldly standards of effectiveness and efficiency, profitability, fame, power, etc.? We have to see to it that our thoughts begin and end with God.

Let’s always remember what Christ himself reassured us. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt 6,33) We should not be deceived by the false glitter of fame and wealth that the world likes to bait us with.
With respect to our heart, the very seat of our being, we should see to it that it beats only with love for God that gives us the proper love for others and for everything else. When it is truly nourished by faith, hope and charity, it would know how to see and understand things properly, it would know how to react and behave.

We need to spend time and to exert effort to conform our heart to the heart of Christ, so that its instincts, attitudes and motivations would be those of Christ. Our heart, like Christ’s, would know how to blend the material and spiritual aspects of our life, the temporal and eternal, the mundane and the sacred, the here-and-now and the ultimate.
What can help us in this direction is to manage our environment, making it conducive to our work, then we should prioritize the tasks that we have to do, and learn to be maintain focus.

In this regard, we should first identify our common distractions, both the internal and the external ones, so we can make an effective plan or strategy of how we can deal with them properly. Then, let’s also look for an appropriate place to work. We should learn how to be in control of the many digital distractions these days.

In the end, what would truly work is when we are most aware that we are actually praying and engaging ourselves with God while working.

Mahinungdanon an kina-adman han pag andam han kalibrehan kontra han kalamidad!

In a country where disasters are inevitable, investing in education for disaster risk reduction is investing in our collective future. A degree in Disaster Risk Reduction Management is not just for the individual—it is for the community, the nation, and generations to come. The Philippines doesn’t just need more responders; it needs more educated, empowered, and visionary leaders who can turn vulnerability into resilience.
In the Philippines, disasters are never an alien concept it is a lived reality. It happens every single month sometimes in a form of Earthquakes, Floods, Storm Surge and mostly Typhoons.

In fairness to the Commission on Higher Education this writer attended a Public Consultation on an Associate Degree on Disaster Preparedness Course a good 5 years back

It is my hope that these plans were pursued.

And what exactly are we gaining if we offer and have a course on DRRM:

Policy and Governance The Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act (RA 10121) emphasizes the need for institutionalized disaster planning. Graduates can serve as technical experts in local government units, ensuring compliance and innovation in policy execution.

• Education and Awareness Trained professionals can integrate disaster preparedness into schools, workplaces, and communities. This creates a culture of readiness rather than panic.

• Sustainable Development Disasters derail economic progress. Having experts in DRRM ensures that infrastructure, housing, and livelihood programs are designed with resilience in mind, protecting both lives and investments.

• Global Competitiveness With climate change intensifying disasters worldwide, Filipino graduates in DRRM can contribute not only locally but also internationally, positioning the Philippines as a leader in disaster resilience.

Here in Tacloban, the ground zero of that dreadful Typhoon Haiyan, we are hopeful that we can have, soon ,a full College Degree on Disaster Risk Reduction Management.

Mahinungdanon an kina-adman han pag andam han kalibrehan kontra han kalamidad!