Shaken Foundations: Earthquake in the Visayas and Moral Accountability
By Francis Jeus Ibañez
Just recently, the earth groaned beneath the Visayas region as a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck Bogo City, Cebu. It was sudden, violent, and unforgiving—toppling buildings, cracking roads, and sending families scrambling for safety. The tremors didn’t just shake the ground; they rattled the very foundations of public trust and institutional preparedness.
In the aftermath, questions started to surface—not just about the damage, but about the systems that were supposed to prevent or mitigate it. For years, disaster risk reduction had been discussed in government halls and academic forums, yet the reality on the ground told a different story. Communities were caught off guard, emergency protocols were unclear, and infrastructure failed to withstand the quake’s force. It was as if the nation had seen this coming but chose not to look.
This is where Republic Act No. 6713 enters the picture. Known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, it declares that public office is a public trust. Officials are expected to act with integrity, responsibility, and foresight. But when the dust settled in Bogo, the silence was deafening. Who had prepared? Who had planned? Who was accountable?
The issue of responsibility didn’t stop at government doors. Non-government sectors—private institutions, civil society groups, even media—had roles to play in shaping public awareness and resilience. Yet many had remained passive, waiting for the inevitable rather than working to prevent it. Or if not, some are busy with their obsolete ideological drift but utterly silent when their own ilk are at it. Vocal against the past but holds no vision for the future.
Philosopher Immanuel Kant once wrote, “Intuition without concept is blind; concept without intuition is empty.” His words echo hauntingly in moments like these. We saw the destruction, felt the fear—but without thoughtful frameworks, our perception was blind. And for those who had drawn up plans and policies without grounding them in real-world conditions, their concepts were empty.
This earthquake was more than a natural disaster—it was a test of our ethical and intellectual foundations. It asked whether we truly understood the meaning of accountability, whether we valued future thinking, and whether we could unite perception with thought to build something stronger.
The path forward is clear, but it demands courage. We must institutionalize foresight, enforce transparency, and educate communities not just to respond, but to anticipate. Only then can we honor the trust placed in public office—and ensure that when the ground shakes again, our foundations will hold.
