Eco-political storms and floods

When President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. left on July 20, for an official visit to the US, Typhoon Crising was huffing her fury across the country, intensified by the southwest monsoon (habagat). Local government units had started to declare states of calamity due to raging storms and deep floods. Sea and air travel became risky and restricted.

But I have to go, Marcos Jr. insisted. He said in his pre-departure message, “I intend to convey to President Trump and his cabinet officials that the Philippines is ready to negotiate a bilateral trade deal that will ensure strong, mutually beneficial, and future-oriented collaborations that only the United States and the Philippines will be able to take advantage of.” No details yet of what the Philippines’ counteroffer was to the 20% tariff (raised from the original 17% tariff in April) which was to be imposed by the US on Philippine exports effective Aug. 1.

US President Donald Trump and President Marcos Jr. met on July 23 for a 34-minute conference at the Oval Office in the White House, to announce agreed details of the final bilateral tariff scheme for the two countries. (Negotiations were conducted earlier between Philippine and US Cabinet officials involved in trade and commerce.)

After an introduction of two minutes each and exchanging pleasantries extolling each other for great leadership, Marcos Jr.’s ending paean was, “it was President Trump who in his first term characterized the relationship between the Philippines and the United States as ironclad… it is something that the Philippines will always hold close to its heart. Thank you once again. And I, we, are honored.”*

Watching the live “joint presscon” was painfully insulting for this Filipino viewer (and presumably for many more), as the questions asked by the press were diverted to domestic issues in the US, converting the presscon into a televised celebrity show for Trump and his accomplishments.

The 10 or so questions from the press were openings for Trump to vent his fury on his political enemies and public officials who did not support him, or under-performed vs. his demands.

Trump took up about 25 minutes of the 34-minute presscon, leaving Marcos Jr. only about five minutes total for his one- to two-minute answers to three questions asked directly of him. The rest of the time was used by the undisciplined press who disrespectfully shouted out questions from the floor to the main speaker cum moderator, Trump.

Marcos Jr. pathetically sat straight in his chair and kept an uninvolved countenance to the end, when Trump suddenly stood up and said, “Thank you very much, everybody.” End of the press conference. No mention about the “negotiated” tariff on Philippine exports to the US.

“It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal,” Trump later wrote on his social media platform. “The Philippines is going Open Market with the United States, and Zero Tariffs. The Philippines will pay a 19% tariff. In addition, we will work together militarily,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after meeting with Marcos Jr.

Later, Marcos Jr. confirmed the 19% tariff and told reporters that the Philippines may allow zero tariffs on US automobiles. “Now, 1% might seem like a very small concession. However, when you put it in real terms, it is a significant achievement,” he told a group that included Filipino migrants to the US, who had been urging him to ask Trump for some special consideration for their plight in Trump’s cleanout of immigrants.

Marcos Jr. had said to Trump at the presscon: “We’re all very happy to be here to once again reaffirm the very strong ties between the Philippines and the United States, ties that go back over 100 years. And considering the context in which we live these days, especially in my part of the world, this has become — this has evolved into as important a relationship as is possible to have. We must remember that the United States is our only treaty partner in the Philippines, and that has stood us in good stead over the years, certainly through the Second World War and the cultural memory of all Filipinos down to even the schoolchildren is that our strongest, closest, most reliable ally has always been the United States.”

But Trump did not take the bait, and instead stressed, “we have the strongest, strongest border anywhere in the world now.” He plans to sort and clean up the “millions and millions of people who come into our country.” Impliedly, no deal on Filipino immigrants, not even a 1% reprieve (like the 1% reduction of tariff) for those on the “get out” list of Homeland Security.

President Marcos Jr. came home from the US on Wednesday, July 23, shortly after 10 p.m. Tropical storm Dante, following in the turbulence of Crising, had intensified with the habagat. Tropical Storm Emong was ready to make landfall in the Ilocos region. Gusty rains and deep floods inundated most of the country, causing the necessary suspension of work and classes at all levels in many areas.

Classrooms served as evacuation centers for storm and flood victims, places where food and relief goods were distributed by social welfare offices and volunteer groups. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council oversaw the deployment of medical teams to evacuation centers, alternative learning arrangements for students, and continuous rescue and relief operations.

Rappler reports that this year the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) received the second largest budget allocation at P1.007 trillion, just behind the education sector, with P1.055 trillion. The proposed budget had been P900 billion, but it ballooned to P1.034 billion after the bicam. Ibon Foundation executive director Sonny Africa flagged the budget insertions for DPWH made by lawmakers during the bicam process, calling them “widely suspected to be more pork barrel projects,” Rappler said on July 24.

According to Sen. Joel Villanueva, the government is spending P1.4 billion a day on flood control programs, and yet that massive cost is not felt by ordinary Filipinos, an Inquirer editorial said on July 24. To address the recurring crisis, the senator reiterated his call for a “comprehensive and integrated flood control program… since the Philippines is walloped by some 20 typhoons a year and Metro Manila in particular is prone to inundation due to its ancient waterways now smothered by unchecked urban sprawl. Such a program should have been in place decades ago.”

DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan had admitted at a Senate hearing on public works in August last year that for all the billions poured into the program, there is no single integrated flood-control master plan for the country. Lack of long-term planning is due to term-limited perspective and authorship vanities of operative officials.

But the ugliest human factor in the management of storms and floods is the temptation of corruption, as insinuated by Mr. Africa. The urgency felt during natural calamities can easily mask personal interests and unaudited responses. The giddy power over life or death can also warp and shrivel the soul of the erstwhile Samaritan facing the beggar in need.

At a fundraising dinner in Washington in April, Trump joked, “These countries are calling us up, kissing my ass, to negotiate on tariffs. They are dying to make a deal.” He mimicked suppliants, “Please, Sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything, Sir!” And that is exactly what happened at that “joint” presscon where he deprecated and insulted President Marcos Jr. and the Philippines by his sheer disrespect for the presence of a head of state, by pompously (and crudely) discussing domestic matters that certainly do not concern his guest.

Marcos Jr. came from his storm-bashed and flooded country (a natural calamity and a simile for our economic needs), to ask Trump, “Please, Sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything, Sir!” The country got a 19% tariff rate and was arm-twisted into agreeing to an “open market” for the US. Marcos Jr. came back to a storm-bashed and flooded country, both a simile and an actual physical calamity.

The typhoons and monsoons are angry at the corruption in government, where budgets for infrastructure and development are filched by politicians and administrators/operatives, causing more damage and failure of support to citizens. More typhoons and floods are coming up.

One big storm blew in on July 25, when the Supreme Court ruled that the impeachment complaint against the vice-president was unconstitutional, thus barring any attempt to file a case against Sara Duterte until Feb. 6, 2026. The SC, however, maintained that it was not absolving Duterte of the charges filed. The House of Representatives had impeached Duterte over allegations of conspiracy to assassinate President Marcos Jr., corruption, and extrajudicial killings, loss of public trust over unexplained disbursements, etc.

When it rains, it pours!

*The full transcript of bilateral talks can be found at rollcall.com.