Close to 900 dead and hundreds still missing. Sounds like it was a grim war death toll that Typhoon Pablo left in Compostella Valley and Davao Oriental.

Now, close to 90,000 homeless families are asking whether those who perished are luckier than them. For the government, as usual, scrambles in last minute efforts to house and feed them. Same old story. Up to now some people displaced by the floods and devastation of the last typhoon have not been settled back in their homes.

Going to New Bataan, Compostella Valley, the telltale signs of what caused such wanton destruction and unfortunate waste of human lives are scattered everywhere. Tons of illegally cut logs drifting in the river while substandard roads shattered by the 200 plus km of rage of Pablo rage lay there, split in two.

The valley rich in gold is also rich in tragedy, often caused by illegal logging. From October 2005 up to just about the time Typhoon Sendong struck, most of the 200 residents in ComVal have perished. And now Pablo just upped the ante.

One cannot fathom the complacency and the wanton disregard of officials in the province to just look the other way, earn fastbreak mega bucks while putting their people as collateral damage should another typhoon or force of mother nature hit the town.

Survivors of this tragedy are blaming the government for the snail paced relief assistance and their local officials for condoning these heartless loggers. I say now is the time for the government to walk their talk. Along with the effort to curb illegal logging and send the loggers to the slammer, they should put to task cunning contractors who put residents in perpetual danger.

The list of tragedies in the province of Compostella Valley is getting long and bloody. There is a line in a song saying price of memory is the pain it brings. Apparently, officials in the province have a different line—the color of money is greater than the pain and loss of past tragedies.

I think they should be cut opened and dried in the sun, like the illegal logs they are protecting.

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