Resiliency not enough

The effects of both Super Typhoon Rolly and Typhoon Ulysses have been greatly felt during these past two weeks families displaced, properties damaged and lives lost.

We once again appeal to each one of you, Lasallians and friends from here and abroad, to donate and support the families affected by these typhoons. With your help, we will be able to send over basic needs and relief goods to Bicol, Batangas, Marikina and Rizal.

You may send your cash donations to the following bank accounts: Account Name: DE LA SALLE BROTHERS, INC.

BDO: Peso Checking Account No. 002198015937.

BPI: Peso Savings/Checking Account No. 3103-3749-86; US Dollar Savings Account No. 3104-0289-09; Swift Code: BOPIPHMM.

SECURITY BANK: Peso Savings Account No. 0000014366500; US Dollar Savings Account No. 0000011740719; Swift Code: SETCPHMM.

RCBC: Peso Savings Account No. 7590-569081; US Dollar Savings Account No. 8-296-00115-6; Swift Code: RCBCPHMM.

Please send a copy of the deposit slip to [email protected].

Any amount will be greatly appreciated, according to Br. Armin Luistro FSC, present head of the Lasallian East Director and president of De La Salle Philippines, the network of all the La Salle schools in the Philippines.

Typhoon Ulysses had less rainfall than the 2019 Tropical Storm Ondoy which caused havoc in Metro Manila. However, in several areas, Ulysses caused more damage. Marikina residents, the most prone to floods in Metro Manila, said that Ulysses caused more widespread damage than Ondoy. Almost all the mayors interviewed after the typhoon were calling on the private sector to provide the necessary relief goods. Year after year, the Philippines experiences major natural disasters, especially typhoons. Each time the private sector responds with all the help they can muster. NGOs like the De La Salle Philippines once again go fund raising to help the thousands of homeless victims and other people who lost their livelihood and need assistance to normalize their lives.

Year after year, the Filipino, especially the victims, are praised for their resiliency, which means their capacity to recover quickly and their toughness. Also, the Filipino is praised for their ability to stay cheerful and keep smiling under these most difficult circumstances. In the many interviews of victims, some of them standing in the middle of flooded homes and streets, most Filipinos retained a belief in this ability.

The most depressing image to me was those people who were literally begging for help. They were begging to be rescued, to be provided even temporary shelter and for basic needs like food and clothing, especially for their children.

I find all these images depressing because I believe, like many others, that we should stop bragging about the resiliency of the Filipino people. We should also stop all those photo ops of organizations and individuals distributing relief goods. They should literally be ashamed of themselves for exploiting the misery of others to gain publicity mileage for themselves and their organizations.

Every year, we can expect typhoons and heavy rains to come. The usual response is to prepare evacuation centers and relief goods in anticipation of the victims that will need these basic needs. Most government officials and even NGOs were proudly boasting how prepared they were to accept all these typhoon refugees.

The basic question is, if we know all these typhoons will come every year, why is the government and the private sector not thinking and planning of more permanent solutions to the floods?

Among all the interviews I heard, only one local mayor and one civil service employee discussed potential but permanent solutions.

One weather forecaster was asked why Markina experienced even higher water level and more flooding than during Ondoy when there was less rainfall during Ulysses. He replied that after eleven years, conditions had changed. He mentioned that one major cause was that the rivers flowing through Marikina need to be desilted. Silt may occur as sediment and soil in a body of water such as a river. When there is too much silt in a river or a lake, it impedes the free flow of water. If a river has too much silt the water will overflow and create a flood situation in the surrounding land.

The mayor of Taytay said in a TV interview during the aftermath of Typhoon Ulysses that Laguna de Bay and the rivers that flow out of the lake were already heavily silted and needed to undergo massive desilting. He also said that he remembered that there was a proposed P18-billion desilting project that was proposed before. The excess soil and sediment from this massive desilting project were supposed to be used to build a circumferential road around Laguna de Bay. He asked the same question I am asking: What happened to such a worthwhile project?

Another sensible project used in other countries would be to build catchment basins. These basins could be used to store the excess rain water which can then be released during the dry season. This will prevent floods in the plains area and also make use of rain water instead of allowing it to just flow uselessly to the sea.

Instead of annually relying on the generosity of people who can afford to give and the resiliency of the poor Filipino, common sense should tell us to look for simple but permanent solutions to a problem that we all know will come every year.

*      *      *

An invitation to online writing classes: Young writers’ hangout, Nov. 21, 2-3 p.m. with Rin Chupeco.

Adult series on writing human interest stories, Nov. 28, 2-3:30 p.m. with Paulynn Sicam.

Contact [email protected]. 0945.2273216

Email: [email protected]