Typhoons

Typhoon Ondoy left Metro Manila and nearby provinces wasted and waste-full. It was heartbreaking it should sensitize all of us to the murderous extent we have damaged mother earth. Reports say this volume of rainfall has never happened in Manila and the amount that fell in all of Luzon in two days was equivalent to the regular annual volume for the entire nation. Ondoy left 300 deaths in Metro Manila alone and Pepeng caused more or less the same number of casualties in the Cordillera region. Scientists and environmentalists warn that we only have TEN YEARS to try to REVERSE the effects of climate change. It's shocking as much as it's REAL.

Experts advise that in developing countries such as ours, adaptive measures may be adopted to face the adverse effects of climate change. Communities in low-lying areas and have experienced flooding and/or mudslides are now mandated to leave for relocation areas days before the incoming storm. Local government units prepare rescue vehicles and equipment; food rations are packed for those who will be housed in relocation centers. Immediate as well as long-term solutions are now being taken seriously. Residents of houses in areas where they should not have been constructed in the first place are discouraged from returning. The Laguna de Bay area has shown to heve been abused by illegal structures which resricted the flow of water from the bay to tributaries, and on to Manila Bay. This caused the great flooding in the areas of Pasig, Pateros, Marikina and the rest of Rizal. Aggravating cirucumstances cited were the denudation of forests in the Rizal provinces and the improper and careless disposal of wastes from industrial and commercial establishments as much as from individual homes. Evidently, we have gone too far in abusing the environment and it looks like payback time has come. We can only pray that this time we will act together and concertedly meet the challenges of our seasons.