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WORM’S EYEVIEW: SNAFU

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/ 03 November) — SNAFU is the acronym for “situation normal all f***ed up”– a term with obscene undertones widely used by U.S. soldiers during World War II but which has come to describe a difficult or confusing situation in which nothing happens as planned and everything goes wrong.

To be brutally frank about our present situation, SNAFU is an appropriate term to describe the state of our politics, government, and society.

We have a president who proclaims himself Champion of the Straight and Narrow Path. (Matuwid na Daan! Kung walang kurap, walang mahirap! Hindi ako magnanakaw!)

But then he turns around and tries to pull the wool over our eyes by trying to justify the greatest source of plunder and political corruption in our political system—pork barrel politics in all its ugly forms: Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), President’s Social Fund (PSF). And he actually expects us to take his word for it. SNAFU!

Then there’s us, the nation’s sovereign citizens, We claim to want good government but elect trapos and freeloaders to take charge. We want wise laws but give the delicate role of lawmaker to thieving demagogues and dynasts. Thus, practically everyone in positions of power misbehaves but we take it as normal political phenomena. SNAFU!

As a result, the superstructure of our republic is overcrowded with self-serving, aggrandizing officeholders with no sense of duty, social responsibility, or statesmanship. We have a dearth of worthy leaders.

At great cost to us citizens, government operates at every level—barangay, municipality, city, province, region, nation. Every locality has a government in place. Every jurisdiction has a complete set of personnel, facilities, budget, equipment, security apparatus, and so on.

But despite the presence and availability of all these—at every level everywhere!—lawlessness persists. SNAFU!

In the countryside, marauders move freely around—ambushing, blackmailing, destroying, murdering, terrorizing. Despite the presence of government and resources and facilities deployed at their command, the citizenry are still helpless. SNAFU!

This can only mean one thing: the bureaucrats we pay to run the government are either (1) just freeloading while sleeping on the job, (2) incompetent and corrupt, or (3) are secret supporters, cooperators, and accomplices of the lawless elements.

If so, why are they still there? Why are they collecting salaries, allowances, and privileges they don’t deserve?

Helping, supporting, giving comfort to the enemies of society is treason and should be condemned, denounced, and punished everywhere.

Why aren’t those responsible for the failure of governance being investigated and held to account?   (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Manny Valdehuesa writes from Cagayan de Oro and is the president and national convenor of Gising Barangay Movement Inc. He can be reached at valdehuesa@gmail.com.)

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