There must be an overdose of hallucinogens intake in the apogee of power and functionaries I am afraid we are bound to some eerie national emergency situation, assuming we are not there yet.
While some parts of Metro Manila and greater part of Central Luzon are literally under water caused by unmitigated flooding, Pres. BongBong Marcos ordered DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon to look into severe flooding in Davao City and to verify, what we heard for the first time, what happened to the 13,970 flood control projects in the city.
As if on cue, Ombudsman CJ Remulla issued a statement describing Davao City as the “epicenter” of floods and flood control projects with the President’s Spokesperson Kler Castro echoing the same.
This most recent attribution of flooding to Davao City is not only part of the administration’s efforts to denigrate the Duterte leadership but to tarnish the image of Davao City as the veritable destination of domestic and international tourists but also of capital investments.
True Davao City has its own share of floods caused by long periods of heavy rains, but these quickly dissipate in less than two hours after the downpour.
When BongBong issued the order to Dizon to look into the severe flooding in Davao City, and Ombudsman Remulla followed with his declaration of the city as the “epicenter of floods and flood control projects”, the city in fact was sweltering due to dry weather.
The absurdity of Malacanang’s declaration and the Ombudsman knee-jerk attribution on Davao City invites speculation something odd is happening inside the halls of the Palace by the murky Pasig river. Why is there an unusual alteration of perception and awareness of reality? The entire nation is aware that the disastrous floods is happening in Central Luzon and the National Capital Region but here is President Marcos and his spokesperson Claire Castro insisting that the floods we see on the front pages of print and broadcast media and in the digital platforms are neither at the NCR nor anywhere in Luzon. In a daring declaration Castro, speaking for the President, said: “Lubog na ang bansa sa baha. Totoo naman po”, she insisted and added, “kitang kita po natin ito sa Davao City”.
When the Ombudsman affirmed that the flooding is occurring in Davao City and proceeded to dub the city the epicenter of floods, I started to doubt myself whether I have a problem with my mental faculty. I convinced myself that my sanity is intact when, driving downtown, the scorching heat of the sun had zapped every dew drop it will be the height of insanity to think flood is occurring in any place in Davao City.
But what is insane is the fetish of the Marcos administration to cast calumny on the City of Davao in its consuming desire to denigrate the Duterte leadership particularly the Vice President, Sara Duterte. Marcos has assembled a gang of attack dogs from the House of Representatives that brought together the “pinklawans”, the communist fronts, the Marcos loyalists and a retinue of commercial analysts and vloggers in an indecent joint venture to eliminate VP Sara from the 2028 presidential race.
On the part of Marcos himself, he, through his spokesperson, Usec Claire Castro, minces no words in declaring Davao City as a dangerous place to visit, live and invest in. For a President to besmirch the image of a city in his own country is preposterous! Going beyond the factual reality, like branding Davao City as the epicenter of flood and flood control projects when a vast area in Luzon and Metro Manila are wallowing in flood, borders not only on hatred and envy but hallucination to say the least.
But behind the verbiage of attack is an irony. His new Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go may not be aware that Davao City is a heavy chip on the shoulder of his boss he made a surprise declaration that the Davao Region grew by 5.1 percent in 2025, outperforming the national growth rate of 4.4 percent and retaining its spot as Mindanao’s largest economy. It is not arguable that Davao City is the driving force in the dynamic economic growth of the region.
Marcos himself and his propagandists cannot dispel the truth. Every now and then he slips into Davao City and takes a look at ongoing and accomplished projects which his publicists dubbed as part of “Bagong Pilipinas”. While some observers smirked some local officials would just brush it aside. Someone, quoting the late Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, was heard saying: “Okay lang, gusto ko happy ka”.
