​Floods of Greed, Failures of Duty

​by: Atty. Jose Manolo V. Garcia
Founding and Managing Partner (GERA LAW)

Floods do not come from the heavens, they come from greed, neglect and the failure of duty. This 3-part series breaks down why we drown, who should be held responsible and why accountability is not optional.

Part 1​
​Not Acts of God. Floods as the Price of Greed

From deforestation to reckless development, our choices made this disaster inevitable. Floods are not divine punishment, they are the price of greed, corruption & neglect. And unless we admit this truth, we will keep drowning in our own making.
 
These floods are not Acts of God.
They are Acts of Greed.

Every time streets turn into rivers & cars sink under floodwater, the same excuse gets thrown around, Acts of God, wala tayong magagawa.

Legally, an Act of God is only valid when there is no human negligence. But these floods are 100% foreseeable because money meant to prevent them was stolen.

Insurance companies may call flood damage an Act of God, covered only if you paid extra for AOG/Nature coverage. But in truth, the bigger policy here is this, when public funds are robbed, when infrastructure is sabotaged by corruption, when lives are placed in danger, that is not divine will. That is criminal will.

Under Art. 1174 of the Civil Code, an act of God is only a defense when the event is unforeseeable & unavoidable, with no human negligence involved. But these floods? They are the direct result of negligence, corruption & theft at the highest levels. Billions have been poured into flood control projects, many of them ghost projects or substandard works, yet every downpour drowns the country. This is no longer unforeseen. It is deliberate abandonment.

And while ordinary Filipinos lose cars, homes & livelihoods, the contractors, congressmen/tongressmen & their so-called nepo babies, living off that blood money, flaunt luxuries & opulent lifestyles. The irony? Vehicles drown while theirs cruise in fleets that could have been funded by the very money meant to save the streets from flooding.

And under both law and common sense, criminal acts are never excused as fortuitous events. Negligence & bad faith wipe out the Act of God defense. It stands true now.

So no, God did not drown those cars.
They did.
Theft is not divine, corruption is not destiny.
And they must be held accountable.
 
If we made this flood, then we can stop it, but only if we stop the greed that drowns us all.