MANILA
Believe it or not some Philippine communities in the areas ravaged by the monsoon rains in the first week of August are still flooded. And even when the water goes away, there will be a lot of cleaning up to do and picking up of the lives of the flood’s victims.
In the aftermath of typhoon Ondoy in 2009, local governments made a big show of dredging up their drainage systems because experts had said then that clogged sewers choked off the savage onrush of the massive volume of rainwater.
The deja vu experience in early August with the southwest monsoon, made even more devastating by tropical storm Gener, tells us the efforts in 2009 weren’t nearly enough. It was either because the local governments’ efforts were inadequate or mainly just for show, or because we Filipinos (Metro Manilans mainly) generate amounts of garbage enough to again stuff sewers that had been declogged in the wake of Ondoy. Experts again are telling us that the deluge on the first week of August was greatly exacerbated by our own abuse, negligence and unconcern over environmental and safety measures.
The experts have been insisting that the national and local governments must put in place concrete, dependable and lasting measures in order to make our communities safe from natural disasters. Proposed action includes appropriate physical infrastructure to secure areas that are currently prone to flooding and landslides which, in turn, cause other problems, especially when conditions are savage and severe, as they were during both Ondoy and the recent monsoon torrent.
Measures include relocating residents who are vulnerable to Nature’s fury. Long-established communities that have become prone to calamities because of climatic and topograhical changes must think seriously about moving out of their areas, however strongly attached they are to their long-time homes. And measures must include creating new and viable communities for the hundreds of thousands of squatters (now called informal settlers).
The issue of “informal settling” has become a social and moral dilemma here. Social because great numbers of people occupy land that belongs to others, depriving the rightful owners use of or income from their property. And moral because how do you in conscience throw the same people, hapless and powerless, to fend for themselves out there in the open? Squatting has become an urban conundrum whose solution has been made more elusive by the refusal of public officials to tackle it with determined political will.
Unscrupulous politicians choose not to lift a finger in order to solve this festering urban malady. Slum-dwellers are a convenient source of votes during elections, and callous politicians prefer to cultivate these vote-rich areas to their advantage. So why get rid of squatters?
Squatter areas are not only a question of aesthetics. The more pressing concern is that most squatter areas, because they’re congested and made up of houses built with highly flammable flimsy materials, are at constant risk of accidents like fire and, as we’ve experienced seasonally, deadly floods (not to mention the traditional issues that plague slum areas). Politicians don’t care how people live in the slums, they only care how they vote.
Our recurring problems emanate not only from poor neighborhoods. We have all been guilty of indifference about proper disposal of our daily household and industrial waste.
How many times have authorities advised us, implored us, cajoled us, threatened us, and reminded us again and again to properly dispose our garbage? And how many times have we ignored, disregarded, dismissed and disbelieved such advise/instructions? Many, if not most, of us are guilty of not protecting our environment, of not taking care of public facilities and infrastructure, of being nonchalant about proper sanitary and safety measures.
We ourselves abuse our surroundings, even vandalize public structures and facilities, and then blame others when disaster strikes. We ourselves cause the problems that plague our lives and then blame the government, relief organizations and others, except ourselves. We put our lives at risk by living in unsafe areas like river banks, hillsides prone to land or mudslides, places that are inhabitable like beneath concrete bridges or flyovers. But when storms and high winds come, we look for someone else to blame. In reality, we are our own worst enemy.
There may be relief in sight. President Benigno Aquino III has gone around flood-ravaged areas and told residents that he has issued orders to start building infrastructure that will in the near to medium term make communities safe and secure from natural disasters.
The government has announced an immediate P5-billion effort to kick-start remedial and repair action on busted dams, dikes and roads. And a P352 billion broad flood-control program that will span two decades of construction has just been approved.
Mr. Aquino has so far shown that both his heart and his head are in the right places. Despite what those who are predisposed and programmed to not like him say, he has so far shown that he knows what he’s doing. The people, especially the ones who have suffered over the years from the devastating fury of Nature, must hold the President to his word and expect immediate action.
We the people must take advantage of having a leader who cares and insist that he put his words into concrete action for the welfare of the people, especially the poor. We must make sure that this President puts his money where his mouth is and so finally solve the people’s recurring nightmares and ordeals from Nature’s force by taming that very force’s fury.
We the people must make sure the President’s words aren’t just the familiar empty promises and platitudes glibly peddled by the political elite, even as this President assiduously attempts, sincerely it seems, to break out of his Establishmentarian provenance and pedigree.