Joke and Dagger

Title: Another day

Yesterday, I was brought to Cabanatuan by one of the drivers of a corporate client. There was a
hearing in the afternoon for a case involving said client, and it has been their practice to ferry the
handling lawyer for such out-of-town hearings. And so yesterday was my first time to hit the road
with Jay.

Jay is a family man, just a year or so younger than me. He has several children, most in school. While
his work is based in practically the middle of NCR, he lives in relatively far away Valenzuela City. The
recent weather is of great concern to him, as flooded streets means the difference between arriving
home by 8:00 PM and arriving home past 10:00 PM - only to report to work at 8:00 AM the following
day, because bundy clocks don’t care about the weather, or the floods.

We didn’t talk politics, but we did talk governance. Jay lamented the impending one-driver policy
along EDSA. How, he wondered, would he be able to go to the airport to pick up corporate officers
arriving from out of town, without needlessly passing through winding and congested backroads?

We also talked about the recent move to disallow provincial buses from plying EDSA. What about
Metro Manila workers coming from Bulacan, asked Jay? Those workers would need to double their
commuting expenses and take two buses instead of one, just to get to work.

We both agreed that those were silly rules that weren’t studied properly.

But then, “silly things that aren’t studied properly” appears to be this Duterte regime’s bread-and-
butter maneuvers.

As we traversed the provincial road through Nueva Ecija, we noticed a stretch of road that was lined
with what appeared to be deep flowing water on either side. “Kapag binaha yan, wala tayong
madadaanan” he pointed out.

As we drew closer to the Regional Trial Court, I surveyed the houses and buildings along the highway,
and noticed that many of them had elevated driveways and ground floors - a sure sign of past or
maybe even present flooding problems.

Ang mga mamamayan ang nag-adjust.

Makes me wonder why this Duterte regime is cutting funding for flood control projects. Maybe they
need more funds for ipepedederalismo-esque propaganda materials?

The hearing itself was uneventful (though the same can’t be said for our attempts at finding a place to
eat that had parking). Less than two hours after our arrival, we were back on the road again, headed
back to Metro Manila.

We passed the same road with water on either side, and while it hadn’t rained hard in Cabanatuan, it
was certainly raining hard somewhere else, because the water was threatening to overflow onto the
street. Thankfully we made it through without incident.

Everything’s connected. Except maybe the brains of whoever’s really running Malacanang.

As we drove through torrential rain somewhere in Bulacan, I read about how Special Alalay to the
President Great Assistant Go was visiting Marikina evacuees in Duterte’s place, complete with some
random washed-out actor and a Duterte impersonator. This, after netizens, myself included, clamored
for Duterte to make his presence and command of government felt during this time of calamity.

Then again, a Duterte impersonator would have been just as ineffective and powerless and inutile as
the real thing, so I suppose it’s all good.

Ten minutes shy of 6:00 PM, we finally make it back to their office. I offered my thanks, and went on
my way.

A few errands and a quick dinner later, I struggled and wrestled with my usual writer’s block to write
this column. Soon I’ll wrap this article up and call it a night/morning.

Because come hell or high water (or in the case of this Duterte regime, both), today is just another
day.