Help for flood victims

I can only express my empathy with DENR Secretary Lito Atienza and Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) Manager Ed Manda — admittedly, I consider them both my friends — about their predicament concerning the public uproar after the havoc and destruction of property and loss of hundreds of lives caused by tropical storm Ondoy recently on towns and barangays surrounding the Laguna de Bay. Where do they begin in the task of reconstruction and rehabilitation of lands turned into wetlands, and the transformation of Laguna de Bay into an environmental paradise?

First of all, the forests of the mountain ranges of Sierra Madre, the surrounding mountains of Laguna de Bay, and even as far as Mindanao for that matter, have long been denuded and have become what can be called as logged-over areas, and hence most of them were classified as disposable and alienable lands that attracted massive development and urbanization long before these two government officials were born or became public officials.

To be reckoned with as well, is the influx of uncontrolled vote-rich informal settlers or dwellers who were allowed to illegally occupy and build shanties on river banks and tributaries that contributed tremendously towards the clogging of waterways during heavy torrential rains as what happened during Ondoy’s tirades.

Let me say at the outset, though, that transforming alienable and disposable lands into communities helped provide decent habitats to a growing population. However, proper planning and provision of adequate drainage facilities should have been envisioned to safeguard the safety and well-being of residents against floods as what happened when Ondoy made its debilitating onslaught on Metro Manila and outlying towns along Laguna de Bay.   

Both the DENR secretary and the LLDA manager should therefore realize and accept the fact that they cannot correct in a short period of time the mistakes or negligence committed by many generations of public officials before them as they would be like Don Quixote fighting the strong windmills facing the Atlantic ocean. The public sector will sooner or later learn and understand that they merely inherited a problem that was built over many generations before us, and what is needed now is calm, and ability to convince the public that they are ready and able to present solutions that hopefully will be supported by LGUs whose towns, barangays and communities were badly affected by the recent calamity. At the same time, there is nothing to be ashamed of if appeals and explanations are made to the public that they themselves are much a part of the problem and the solution to the situation besetting the area.

So there’s no use finger-pointing to each other as to who between them is right or wrong or who is the culprit or negligent official. Likewise, it is not also advisable to blame the present provincial or town LGU executives around the bay area, as, like the DENR secretary and the LLDA manager, they also inherited the mistakes of the past generations.

The issue is not only the problem of DENR and LLDA. Nor it is the concern only of the two agencies. Rather, it must be the concern of the LGUs who are domiciled along the lake. As stated, these two government officials should keep in mind that they cannot solve the problem posed by the pollution of the lake (caused by industrial and domestic wastes) on their own. Government agencies, like DENR, LLDA, Local Government Units, law enforcers, the Departments of Agriculture and Health, among others — and the people living around the lake should all work together to keep the lake clean and sanitary. They all should establish rapport and direct line of communication, sit down and talk, and discuss civilly what has to be done so that the tragedy brought on by Ondoy would not be repeated, and the future of generations of Filipinos secured.

And then, as to the proliferation of squatter communities characterized by unsanitary conditions such as lack of toilets, safe drinking water, and garbage heaps, as another major source of clogged floodways and waterways – well, the squatter problem has been a very big problem in much of the urban and surrounding areas in the archipelago. Manda made a point of the contribution of thousands of squatters to the recent floods. This is the time to find relocation sites for the evacuated squatters, and not allow the reconstruction of their shanties.

It will take a long time to rehabilitate the areas damaged by Ondoy and following turbulences; it will take an indefinitely long period to heal the wounds caused by the deaths of men, women and children.

But a start has to be made, and now, is the time. This is the time for Secretary Atienza and Manager Manda, and everyone concerned, to sit down and draw up a comprehensive development plan for Laguna Lake. This is the challenge borne by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who, in the first place, should not be blamed for the catastrophic floods, as she herself only inherited the environmental problems created, and taken for granted, by her predecessors.

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On another topic, the floods brought on by Ondoy have inundated and made desolate lands that used to be residences and farms. With promised harvests of palay and corn and other crops gone, more people living on agricultural crops will go hungry for a long time, and dependent on dole-outs.

This reminds us of the efforts of the Arroyo administration program to make irrigation systems adequate, functional and efficiently managed. There’s water everywhere, and it’s when the lands are dry that the irrigation systems are going to be appreciated.

With improved irrigation systems, farmers are assured of increased production and increased incomes, and eventually improved nutrition of farm beneficiaries and their families.

The Accelerated Hunger-Mitigation Program (AHMP) of President Arroyo aims to increase productivity and incomes of farmers by improving the irrigation facilities in the countryside under the leadership of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

In a report submitted to Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III, who heads the Anti-Hunger Task Force, NIA targeted the rehabilitation of 20,010 hectares of irrigation systems, and restoration of some 39,239 hectares more, with a total of 59,249 hectares. As of July 2009, NIA was able to accomplish 37,738 hectares of irrigation systems, which is equivalent to 45.90 percent of its target.

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My e-mail: [email protected]