…WHILE THE SUN SHINES By Arch. Ernesto R. Zárate, FPIA WE USED TO HAVE TWO DISTINCT SEASONS in the country—the dry season and wet season. Some call these seasons the sunny season and rainy season. The more pragmatic or glum among us call the other half of the year “typhoon” season which used to be from April to November. Although the weather bureau differentiates these weather disturbances as storms, tropical depressions, typhoons, or cyclones we have just one word for all of them—“bagyo.” Now there is hardly any distinction from the dry and rainy season. There is also the habagat and the amihan weather patterns… monsoon breezes which either bring a lot of rain or cold and dry weather. The habagat winds are affected by the inter-tropical convergence zone and draws rain clouds from Southeast Asia while the amihan brings in the cold winds from Siberia during the “ber” months up to late February. PAG-ASA further states that each year, about 20 major weather disturbances (call them typhoons) occur in the country that is why it is perfect to label these typhoons with female Filipino nicknames because our alphabet contains only that many letters (before, anyway). Ondoy was phenomenal. They say the rain that fell in Metro Manila in just six hours was our usual budget for one whole month. It caught everyone off-guard, especially those agencies concerned with flood preparedness. The death toll for both calamities may reach 1,000 according to press estimates. And this does not include deaths from illnesses caused by the floods, specifically, leptospirosis which has already killed at this writing already around 80 in Metro Manila alone. How about cholera and other bacterial epidemics? I am sure these killers are just lurking behind unhygienic conditions brought about by city floods, just waiting to strike. And this will happen while government is busy investigating and putting the blame on one agency or another… oblivious of the dangers that are yet to come. Scientists around the world have predicted that because of “global warming”, the ”disappearing ozone layer,” “greenhouse effect,” and “melting of the ice caps,” there will be worldwide “climate change”. This Climate Change has started to rear its ugly head. We experienced the strongest cyclone so far…Yolanda/ And hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and typhoons Frank, Ondoy and Pepeng in our country were the precursors. The highly industrialized countries have been accused of being the cause of these man-made stimuli that has made nature react in such a violent manner. But they cannot do anything anymore to reverse its dire consequences nor stop the deterioration it has caused. We can only mitigate or lessen the effects on humankind. In Metro Manila, for example, everyone agrees that poor drainage systems and problems in garbage disposal aggravated the impact of Ondoy. Observant citizens complain that they did not see a single crew working on cleaning the esteros and declogging drainage pipes prior to the typhoon. This preventive activity should be done on a regular basis, 24/7 and all year round. The government should take cognizance of the words of Margareta Wahlström, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, who called for more actions to reduce the risks from disasters. “Spending on disaster risk reduction is not a cost, but an investment for safer and more secure cities,” she said. “Under-investment in building and maintaining drains can trigger bigger disasters.” Then there is also this redesigned Manggahan Floodway that should have continued to connect to the Parañaque Spillway. This was planned by foreign experts sometime in the sixties or about fifty years ago. Midway in through the project, the Parañaque spillway idea was junked because of the staggering cost of buying highly-priced property on its route to Manila Bay aside from displacing prominent highly-placed families from their ancestral homes. So the government engineers opted to make Manggahan just a flood containment facility which would release its watery contents back to the Marikina River when the rains subside. But the facility was not prepared to contain rainfall that was poured by Ondoy. Regarding garbage, everyone knows how plastic materials (grocery bags, cans, bottles especially sachets) thrown into esteros and canals would surely clog the storm drainages. Because they do not dissolve in water (not bio-degradable), they act like bad cholesterol in a man’s arterial system… eventually resorting to an expensive and dangerous by-pass operation in order not to die. Have you seen any concerted effort to clean up the Pasig, Marikina Rivers, or even the Manggahan Floodway of ever-increasing plantations of water lilies? Nobody is making any serious effort in addressing these problems it seems. Implementing the solid waste management law is one simple step in reducing our vulnerability to flooding. But having the political will to enforce it is the one big problem of our local officials. Reducing the use of plastics at the source is another probable solution. Or at least requiring that plastic materials used for packaging to be biodegradable. Manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers should change their traditional ways of packaging their products. Even fast-food chains must do away with styropor materials, for example. It has long been accepted that Laguna de Bay is silted and has reduced its depth over the years. It may still look wide but is not as deep anymore. There is only one waterway where excess water within its confines can pass—Napindan Channel. The experts compare this to a nail hole in a basin of water. In other words, it is expected that flood waters around the lake will take months to recede. Across the mouth of Napindan channel where it connects to the Pasig and Marikina Rivers is a huge concrete facility known as the Napindan Hydraulic Control System whose main purpose is to control the backflow of polluted sea water from entering the already brackish waters of Laguna de Bay by way of the Pasig River. They say it also functions as a flood control facility serving as a catch basin where floodwaters from the Marikina River are diverted into the Laguna de Bay. Activist fisherfolk blame this structure for the flooding it has caused around the lake. They want it dismantled. However, the Laguna Lake Development Authority head insists it is the influx of the houses of informal settlers (squatters) around the Napindan Channel that has constricted its flow, causing the slow recession of floodwaters. Probably both are the culprits. Only an unbiased study would resolve this. But this has to be done soon… very soon. AND THEN THERE IS THE INAPPROPRIATE releasing of the contained waters in the dams affected by the weather disturbance that has caused the floods. Not to mention the many dikes that have been washed away. There is also this devastation by way of landslides that has caused so much misery in La Trinidad and other areas of Benguet province as well as in Baguio itself. Regarding the dams: My question is… (and this I have been asking since about twenty years ago) why can’t the dams release water BEFORE the onslaught of the rains? Why can’t they lessen the water to its allowable working minimum when they learn of the coming of a rain-bearing weather disturbance? What usually happens is… they wait till the dam is almost filled to the brim and is about to overflow. Only then do they release its contents… this is done usually together at the height of the typhoon when the rivers are already swollen and the earth has absorbed already all the water it can hold. It is like watering the plants with a fire hose on a rainy day. And how effective is the warning system used? Government officials in the areas affected were seen on TV ranting and raving at Napocor officials… with sparks flying and angry fists slamming tables in the inquiry that was conducted. Everyone hopes that a new protocol will be devised and implemented for use in the coming years regarding the release of waters from dams. It is quite difficult to determine the places in mountainous areas that are susceptible to landslides. Once the soil is waterlogged after days of heavy rains, landslides can occur practically anywhere. But the geologists would know more about this. Let them decide where the buildable areas are and where it would be dangerous to construct any structure. Again this has to be done soon. As they say in advertising… the deadline was yesterday, but puede pa rin humabol. It’s also never too late to plant trees.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 10:12:13 +0000
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