Since the worst natural calamity struck the country on Nov. 8 which had left more than 6,000 dead and hundreds of thousands more homeless, many things have since taken place and these events, intentionally crafted or spontaneously happening, might have blinded us from seeing the real problem in our land, the continuing misery that afflicts our people.The painful images of Yolanda's aftermath vanished from our minds when we spent our collective anger on BIR head Kim Henares's decision to pin down Manny Pacquiao over the people's champ's alleged tax delinquencies. The painful reminders of people's suffering faded out when the nation started feasting on the hyped row between Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile. The privilege speeches of the two hypnotized the nation, diverting people's attention from the real issue that confronts us.

People's fury over the ineptitude of the Aquino administration to respond well to the Yolanda crisis has been replaced by people's obsession for Christmas preparation. And many other petty concerns at home and at workplace have obliterated our true feelings toward the government. Offline and online, our brains are absorbing all sorts of information and data not related to Yolanda. Even before the arrival of Yolanda, the nation was already distracted with the useless Senate Hearing featuring the shameless liar, Janet Lim-Napoles, who has mastered the art of lying while waiting for her fate. Then came a Senate hearing with Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez in attendance. Excited to batter Romualdez was DILG Sec. Mar Roxas. Instead of comforting Romualdez, Roxas was hurling insults at a Yolanda victim. Roxas's behavior, captured in video which has been circulating on social media sites, exposed the dark side of the national government.

During the Senate hearing Romualdez revealed that his people are not getting enough aid and support from the government. He said that up to this day the local government of Tacloban is retrieving 60 to 80 dead bodies a day. People in Leyte and Samar are still struggling, waiting when relief goods would finally arrive. Meanwhile, the warehouses of DSWD and some town LGUs in Leyte and Samar are filled with relief goods left to rot.

Then the mayor wept.

The testimony of Romualdez was of course more credible than the self-serving claims of Roxas.

The DILG Secretary, who is not really known to have an enormous capacity for human compassion like his predecessor, the late Jess Robredo, but is full of theories and arguments, has rekindled the flames of discontent and disgust of our people. Again our constituents are reminded that the way Roxas had treated Romualdez is reflective of the overall attitude of the national government toward the calamity victims in Samar and Leyte. Our government is too proud to admit that it had failed to deliver help when it was needed most, and the help is still very much needed these days until our people can stand on their own. In their unwillingness to admit lapses and insensitivities, national officials like Roxas are looking for ways where they can throw all the blame or where they can divert people's minds off the real issues of the nation. Yolanda is not the last super typhoon to have hit the country, but before another calamity would shake this nation, our national officials must admit mistakes otherwise they are just bound to repeat the same mistake.