Turning El Niño into another cause for corruption

The media should inform the public about the possibility of a super El Niño without turning a potential climate crisis into an early panic campaign.

Filipinos have barely recovered from months of rain, flooding and storm damage. Now warnings of severe drought and possible water interruptions are beginning to dominate the news cycle. The threat deserves preparation, but preparation is not the same as panic.

There is also a familiar political danger. Every national crisis creates pressure for government to announce another cash-assistance program. Every new fund creates another opportunity for money to leak, disappear or be diverted before reaching the people who actually need it.

In the Philippines, there is an unfortunate reflex to treat every problem as a funding problem. Drought? Release money. Floods? Release money. Poverty? Release money. Disaster? Release money.

But more money does not automatically produce better government. Without transparency and accountability, it can simply produce more opportunities for corruption.

The recent controversy in Reina Mercedes, Isabela, involving Vice Mayor Harold Respicio is a disturbing illustration. Respicio reportedly drew national attention—and the ire of Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla—after an emotional outburst over alleged corruption involving barangay officials.

If the allegations are true, the priority should be investigating the alleged corruption, not merely punishing the official who became angry about it.

Yet that is precisely what can go wrong when government becomes more concerned about maintaining decorum than confronting misconduct.

The incident also offers a glimpse into how public money can be fought over at the lowest levels of government. Funds intended for communities can become political resources, with local officials competing over their share of whatever assistance eventually trickles down.

That is why the coming El Niño response must not become another giant cash-distribution exercise operating on trust alone.

Government should prepare water supplies, protect agricultural production, repair distribution systems, identify vulnerable communities and publish where every peso goes. Emergency assistance should be targeted, documented and independently audited.

The public does not need catastrophe theater. It needs competent preparation.

And media organizations have a responsibility here, too. Warning people about drought is journalism. Repeatedly amplifying the most frightening scenario before its consequences are established is something else.

El Niño may become a serious national crisis. If it does, government must be ready.

But the country should not have to suffer two disasters at once: drought on the ground and corruption in the distribution of relief.