A needed Alcover push

The walk on the narrow Al Siq canyon in Jordan was more taxing to my sister-in-law, Dr Fely Manaloto, than to my lady, Carmen. Unaccustomed to the Middle East environment, Ate Fely had difficulty adjusting to a constant bite of cold air while walking in the blistering sun. Yet, when we finally reached Petra, the awesome sight of an otherwise facade of a palace restored all of Ate Fely’s energies. The view was breath taking. We could only in unison exclaim, “what a marvelous work of gifted artisans”.

Had we not actually seen Petra as being carved out of a rocky side of a mountain, we could dismiss any description of this archaeological spectacle as impossible. But it stood in front of us in magnificent glory. We could only gasp that some men in the olden times willed to create something very beautiful from nothing!

 At present, there is an idea that our leaders can work on. Theoretically speaking, it may be as difficult as carving the Petra, of 3,000 years ago. I am referring to a facebook posting of former Congressman Jun Alcover. He is advocating for the construction of an evacuation center to provide temporary shelter for victims of calamities. The building of such a refuge can be likened to making the Petra but considering that in the last few weeks, rain, in unbelievable volume, poured in our city, causing unprecedented flash floods, this sanctuary has to be done. “Way Kulba” Alcover’s nom de guerre, hit the proverbial nail on its head. Constructing the center has become a must.

   Alcover’s fb post has given a tremendous boost to what I have been writing all along. The difference in the terminology we use is inconsequential. He talks about “evacuation center” while many times I have said that we need to build a “sanctuary”. Both terms refer to one concept.

What is this “evacuation center (sanctuary) for? It will serve two primary purposes. First it will house all first responders to all foreseeable disasters. Among these calamities are earthquakes, fires, floods, typhoons. The prepers include in their list terror attacks like what happened in Mumbai where the city was sieged by a hand full of fully armed men, collision with asteroids of the kind that killed dinausors million years ago and nuclear holocausts. We can now add the occurrence of pandemics like CoViD 19 to a growing list of calamities to prepare for. If first responders like firemen, police and military, paramedics and health personnel and social workers are stationed in a single command center, their response actions can be coordinated. All areas where help is needed can be attended. Conversely, no disaster-struck place will be left out.

When such rare and dangerous tragedies like tremors destroy structures, asteroids impact the earth and viruses make staying at home dangerous, where can people seek refuge? Or when fires raze homes, typhoons down houses and floods rampage, where can victims go? Not to the school buildings or the sports complexes which have been our practice. These structures are designed for other purposes. The best place will be a sanctuary constructed specifically for that purpose. If, in such refuge, emergency supplies and relief materials are kept in adequate inventories, survival is optimized and lives will be saved.

  I believe that former Councilor Jun Alcover will touch base with responsible officials to start carving our version of Petra.