When will we finally get angry?

The country’s continuing flooding is being sidetracked by the legally complex impeachment trial, Alex Eala’s historic run at the US Open, and the arrival of the much-awaited “ber” months. Yet, while national attention shifts from one spectacle to another, millions of Filipinos remain trapped in a vicious cycle of floods that seems to have no end.

This cycle begins with “ayuda”—cash assistance that has taken many forms and names. While legitimate social protection is necessary, politicians have turned assistance into a political instrument. Cash and other benefits are often coursed through local government executives who expect beneficiaries to return the favor with votes.

The same political machinery thrives on government infrastructure spending. Budgets are manipulated, projects are overpriced or poorly constructed, and flood-control structures are sometimes reduced to ghost or substandard projects. The money lost to corruption does not simply disappear. It can become political capital—used to buy votes, finance campaigns, or influence election officials.

And so, the cycle continues. Corruption produces defective infrastructure. Defective infrastructure worsens flooding. Flood victims become dependent on government assistance. Politicians use that dependence to strengthen their political machinery and remain in power.

When the rains come and communities are submerged, these same politicians are nowhere to be found. Instead, the President, the DPWH secretary and the DSWD secretary appear before media cameras, expressing outrage and promising that heads will roll.

But Filipinos have heard these promises before.

Meanwhile, flooded expressways become parking lots. Commuters spend hours stranded. Businesses lose income. Children miss school. Families watch helplessly as floodwaters enter their homes. And when the waters finally recede, the political attention recedes with them—until the next downpour.

The impeachment trial may be legally important. Alex Eala’s success may be a source of national pride. The “ber” months may bring hope of something to look forward to in December. But none should distract us from the more immediate crisis confronting ordinary Filipinos.

Flooding is not merely a natural disaster. Where corruption, political patronage and failed infrastructure are involved, it becomes a governance failure.

The question is no longer whether government knows the problem. It clearly does.

The question is: When will public anger finally reach the tipping point?