who killed the little people?

In the past two weeks we have been bombarded (almost on the hour) with news of the havoc wreaked on the homeland by successive typhoons ondoy (ketsana) and pepeng (parma), resulting in devastation death and destruction. The images of trajedy and helplessness tell so much.
And i am angry!
I want to know a few things and i want some answers. And so do the little people: the victms, the dead, the dispossessed, the sufferers. They are our family our neighbours our friends. They are not people of a lesser God.
We demand answers.
Where are the advance warnings?
Tides can be predicted years in advance
And if huge typhoons are imminent.
Even two hours would suffice to get to higher ground.
Or to seek shelter under more stable buildings.
5-7 day weather forecasts are now possible.
So where are the precautionary warnings?

Who killed the very poor,
Why an' what's the reason for?
"Not I," says la presidente,
"Don't point your finger at me.
I could not stop the typhoon’s fury
Who says i did not lift a finger to aid
I even opened the palace gate
It's too bad they had to die,
No, you can't blame me at all."

Who drownded the very poor,
Why an' what's the reason for?
"Not us," say the newspapers,
editorialising on their high chairs.
and calling for a national commission
To undertake the reconstruction
proposing candidates to the commission
It wasn't us that made them fall.
No, you can't blame us at all."

Who killed the very poor,
Why an' what's the reason for?
"Not us," says the Pagasa,
weather forecasting is an imperfect science you know,
it’s human nature to find someone to blame
our brand new radar was in the testing stage
and we got no support from government
It wasn't us to make the call.
No, you can't find hope with us at all."

Who buried the poor alive
Why an' what's the reason for?
"Not us," say the congress,
We’re worried about the budget
The legislators need their campaigns met
And we should allow for inflation
(or corruption as one reporter wrote),
the ruling coalition has borne the brunt of the disasters,
and has been found terribly wanting
so it’s our turn at the till
It was mother nature, it was God's will.

Who killed the very poor,
Why an' what's the reason for?

(apologies to Bob Dylan and Davey Moore)