Refuge centers must be built

It is, admittedly, a matter of chronological coincidence that this twice-a-week column appears on the first day of this year but because gratitude, I must humbly say, reigns in my heart, I will take it as more than just plain happenstance. There should be some causal meaning for this occurrence that I should assign it with abundant signification. So, as a starter, let me, for my lady, Carmen, and our children and their spouses, greet everyone a Happy New Year as we sincerely wish that the year 2015 be fruitful to all!

I, too, had my share of life's problems. My personal crosses were, thank God, less burdensome compared to the individual and collective sufferings borne by many others. Coming out with this article on the first day of the year is significant.

I reckon that the frightful and sad experiences we all had the last two years should give us the opportunity to know and understand that the severe challenges of the immediate future are intertwined with climate change. Religious leaders refer these to the biblical signs of the times. Political officials mention our abuses against nature.  They are united in their call for us to be aware that we might have transgressed nature wantonly and that we stand to reap the gruesome repercussions of our rapacity.

We know that thousands of lives and billions worth of property were lost to the combined ferocity of the October 15, 2013 earthquake, the November 8, 2013 super typhoon Yolanda and the most recent storm Seniang. Specially because technology is still not available for anyone to predict earthquake, Bohol officials could not be faulted for the miseries that the earthquake inflicted more than a year ago in that neighboring province. But the gruesome tales out of Yolanda were different. Typhoons are tractable. Scientific tools and equipment can forecast their relative strength and course.  Ample warning and reasonable preparation can minimize the suffering.

Dictated by the bitter lessons of these tragedies, government planners need to look towards 2015 and forward with a vastly different perspective. True, there was an incredible amount of logistics employed to move manpower and material to fend off the adverse effects of what was initially forecast as super typhoon Ruby. Thank God the weather did not achieve its worst form or the preparations could have been in vain. I feared that had the typhoon attained its horrifying peak, as charted by weather specialists, the so-called evacuation centers could themselves be the epicenters of disasters, and Yolanda would have been repeated.

It is inevitable that government must build sturdy sanctuaries. This is the first consideration. By sturdy, I mean edifices that can withstand the intensity of the Bohol, if not the March 2011 Japan, tremor and the ferocity of category five typhoons.  These structures are demand-driven and they should rank top priority such that the conflicting interests of His Honor Cebu City Mayor Michael L. Rama, on one hand, and the Sangguniang Panlungsod, dominated by his political detractors, on the other hand, should yield to the monumental importance of this very urgent project. Their cooperation must extend to a mutual search for sufficient founding where existing accounts are inadequate.

Here in Cebu City, we need at least two of such refuge centers. One in each congressional district has to be erected in a place perceived as not so distant from the intended beneficiaries. The site is the second consideration.

To serve its ultimate goal, rescue and relief equipment as well as adequate supplies have to be maintained in each sanctuary and in constant rotation as to keep their consumable nature. This will be the third consideration.

Finally, when built, an important ground rule has to be enforced for it. A sanctuary will not be constructed for all.  Not every citizen has the right to get inside its doors during calamities. Only pre-qualified residents have to be sheltered there. These are the people whose homes are measured to be unable to bear the onslaught of storms with signal number 4. After all, there are people who can fend for themselves the challenges of natural disasters better than what government can offer.

Of course for the more learned planners, there are more facets to consider. I only cite initial issues if only to start the proverbial ball rolling. What is most important is that our leaders focus their minds today into addressing the demands of climate change.

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