The myth of resilience as a substitute for governance

manilatimes.net · Feb 27, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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FILIPINOS are often praised for resilience in the face of calamity. Images of families smiling despite waist-deep floods or rebuilding their homes after typhoons are celebrated as testaments to the indomitable Pinoy spirit. While resilience is admirable, it must never be romanticized as a substitute for effective governance. To do so would risk normalizing poverty and lowering expectations of accountability. True sustainability is not about how many times disaster-prone communities can bounce back from adversity — but about how often the government prevents avoidable disasters from happening in the first place.In our climate-vulnerable archipelago, resilience cannot remain a cultural trait alone. It must be institutionalized in the form of engineered resilience; otherwise, the narrative only masks systemic weaknesses such as clogged drainage, underinvested infrastructure, fragile energy systems and reactive disaster spending. Children and adults wade through the floods in Baseco in 2023. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTOYear after year, calamities expose the same vulnerabilities: informal settlers persist in danger zones; power interruptions disrupt productivity; and agricultural losses mount. Relief operations are mobilized with urgency, yet mitigation projects move at a turtle’s pace. The myth thus takes root with the assumption that because citizens can endure, institutions need not evolve. Get the latest news delivered to your inbox Sign up for The Manila Times newsletters By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Green industries challenge that assumption. Renewable energy (RE) reduces dependence on volatile fuel imports. Climate-smart agriculture protects food security. Circular economy initiatives prevent waste from flooding. Energy-efficient buildings and sustainable industrial parks lower environmental impact while improving long-term efficiency. These are governance decisions, not mere slogans.Public officials advocating resilient growth must match rhetoric with measurable results. Transparency is essential, particularly when legislation intersects with private or family interests. Even the perception that projects may favor personal networks can erode public trust and weaken the credibility of sustainability advocates. A cycle of vulnerabilityRecent controversies in the country’s RE sector underscore this point. When large-scale solar commitments fail to materialize despite approved contracts and public announcements, the issue is no longer a technical delay — it becomes a matter of governance. Billions in penalties imposed for nondelivery highlight how serious the gap can be between promise and performance. Undelivered commitments are widely perceived as tantamount to ghost projects, which must be eliminated through strict oversight. These initiatives are announced with much fanfare but produce little tangible output. The memory of flood control scams still lingers in the public consciousness. When green projects suffer the same fate, the credibility of the entire sustainability movement is placed at risk. Resilience without reform only perpetuates a cycle of vulnerability. It shifts the burden from the government to individual citizens. Sustainability demands breaking this vicious cycle through foresight, accountability and decisive action. If not, resilience becomes an empty mantra — one that excuses government ineptness rather than solving the root problems. A nation should never outsource resilience to household or corporate goodwill. The public sector must design systems that reduce exposure to risks since prevention is far more cost-effective than perpetual reconstruction. The Filipino spirit of endurance will always be a strength, but it should complement good governance and not compensate for its absence. While resilience is a virtue, governance is a responsibility.Accountability is not optional — it’s the backbone of genuine resilience. Without accountability, resilience becomes a convenient myth; with it, resilience becomes real: engineered, funded, implemented and sustained. Our path forward is clear, and the question is whether governance will finally follow to ensure that commitments are honored, infrastructure is built to specifications and ghost projects become relics of a less accountable past.The author is The Manila Times Sustainability Magazine’s executive editor. He is a member of the Finex Foundation’s Environment Committee and its Sustainability Handbook’s Editorial Board.