THE aftermath of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine is another finger-pointing, blame-passing task for all. What happened? Why was there a collective freeze from the leadership to the Cabinet? Kristine was not the first strong storm this year. Why would a command conference of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) be beamed live with no situational report being made, discussed and scenarios presented, as well as decisions, orders or directives issued? The whys and hows were hanging on the air with no one able to utter a thing or two. It was a total scare with the people watching the live telecast in a quandary because the government practically said, 'We will have to wait out...'

What is scandalous is that we are dealing with lives, and to wait out is to put Filipinos in harm's way. The freeze was shocking. And it was not just the President but the Cabinet as well. It is like saying you are all on your own. The freeze was scandalous, it was bordering on total negligence.