Stop it already with "resilience" sloganeering whenever disaster strikes!

As expected, the notion of "resilience" is again being touted as the Filipino virtue on exhibit as torrential rains pound Metro Manila and as floodwaters rise. Thus Filipinos' idea of "coping" with disaster is doing nothing during sunny days and being "resilient" during rainy days.

The trouble with being assured of the goodness and blessedness of being "resilient" during one disaster or the next is that it lulls people into a bizarre sense of hollow superiority over an adverse situation. Under such a mentality, the adversity Filipinos face is seen to be a kind of an "evil" that they expect to overcome on the basis of an ill-placed sense of righteousness that entitles them to victory.

Nothing to smile about. Nothing to be proud of.
(Source: Twitter)

Sounds baffling? That's because it is. It is no more baffling than the reality that Filipinos undergo the same preventable disasters year in and year out with hardly any change in the manner and quality of their response to it.

"Resilience" is no longer a sanctuary to distract from the reality that Filipinos have not done enough to respond intelligently to what is essentially a technical problem that can be solved using technical solutions.