WHEN IS a social media post a senseless rant, and when is it a timely, necessary and long-overdue call to action?
In the wake of the devastating floods in my beloved Macababad town, many residents turned to Facebook to express their anger and frustration. They demanded answers. They called on elected officials from Malacañang down to the barangay hall to do more than the elevation of roads, distribution of relief goods, free transportation on board a rescue truck, and photo ops.
Most of my town mates agreed and understood perfectly well where all these sentiments were coming from. However, there were quite a few who, without a tinge of reservation, dismissed and branded these people as “reklmador” – the kind of people who crave for attention, find fault in anything, blame anyone and spread negativity even in the most trying times.
And the worse part? They have the temerity to advise their town mates to just take things in stride and to simply get used to it – “Banwa-banwa naman ing albug, e kayu pa wari misane?” “Ikayu na ing mag-adjust, normal na mu yan.” “Ot aliwa ikayu ing tagal keng tutuking eleksyun para solusyunan yu ing albug!”
Such audacity. Such imprudence. The height of hypocrisy.
Sadly, and quite too often, calls for accountability and transparency in our country are misinterpreted as rebellion. Of course, this is the furthest from the truth.
The flooding in Macabebe is not merely an act of nature — it is the result of years of neglect: poor infrastructure, inadequate flood control, and short-sighted planning. Factor in dubious contracts that resulted in substandard elevated roads, the lack of inter-agency coordination, multi-sectorial and multi-discipline consultation to craft a long-term solution, and a generation of residents whose silence and apathy resulted to impunity – you have a perfect recipe for a problem that will never go away.
When people point the inefficiency of our leaders, or the failures of a broken system, they are not in any way being ungrateful or disruptive. They are asking the hard questions that should have been answered long ago.
While it is true that calamities and disasters bring out the best in people – the bayanihan spirit and the heroism of ordinary folks – it is high time that we stop romanticizing resiliency.
Don’t you just find it ironic that we gladly applaud resiliency without even asking why we are constantly forced to be resilient? Don’t you find it odd that we proudly call it the unbreakable Filipino strength when we wade through waist-deep water to go to work, go to school and go on with our daily routine, but never question why that water is there in the first place?
To me, a media post that demands accountability is not just venting but a digital form of protest and civic engagement. In a country where red-tagging silences legitimate dissent, downplaying frustrated citizens as “mema” and “nega” or worse, calling them as “leftists” are a convenient way to discredit them and avoid addressing systemic failure.
The next time you read a justified criticism of government, never mistake it for negativity. A social media post calling out poor governance isn’t a threat — it’s a clear sign that people still believe in change. That is not blind optimism. That is what real hope is.
