The floods speak

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

The flooding in Metro Manila and in the infamous City Camp lagoon of Baguio reminds us of what has been written in the Great Book.

Thousands of years ago, God saw how wickedness had become very unpleasant among His own people and so he decided to remove mankind from the face of this earth. However, His reason for flooding the earth was to destroy His enemies which are wickedness and sin, not to kill people.

So after Noah, his family and the selected animals entered the ark, rain fell on earth for 40 days and nights. And floodwaters stayed on the face of the earth for 150 days, wiping out every living thing. Great philosophers who had been interpreting the Book say that God also used the flood to separate and to purify those who believed in Him from those who did not.

So that throughout history, they saw that a cycle has been taking place time after time – that of separation, purification, judgment, and redemption. Bible scholars say that without understanding God and the Scripture, man is disaster-prone and doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

Hence, the flooding in Manila and City Camp that was there since I can remember. But, modern scientists will argue that there are a lot of differences from Noah’s experience thousands of years ago and the continuous rains brought by typhoons Gener and Helen recently. Noah’s flood, according to the Bible, was wrought by God while modern science research will point to typhoons, climate change and weather disturbances as the culprits for the excessive rainfall in the last four weeks.            

Thinking twice, disaster managers said that while typhoons and other weather disturbances were natural occurrences, flooding and climate change were claimed to be man-made. True, flooding in Metro Manila was aggravated by tons of plastic and household rubbish that accumulated and clogged the canals and esteros through the years.

Proof of this is shown by the truckloads of non-biodegradable garbage that were scooped up from the shoreline of Manila Bay and Roxas Blvd. Surprisingly, even some parts of Quezon City that were more than a dozen meters higher than the Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela (Camanava) District went underwater.

Manila floods that occur every year became worse because public officials from the barangay up to city hall tolerated squatters who built their homes along waterways.

Same is true with the City Camp lagoon. Residential houses mushroomed around and at the lagoon itself even while people knew that the area served as the natural collection basin for water that flowed from all sides of the caldera where barangays covering Lourdes-Dominican, Q.M. Subd., Rock Quarry, Labsan, City Camp Alley, Palma, Queen of Peace and Hamada Subd. are located.  

In this case, trash from the upper levels of the caldera and built-up areas earlier mentioned are washed down by continuous rains and accumulate at the lowest level of the valley floor. Naturally, some of the accumulated garbage is slowly forced to go down with the floodwaters through Crystal Cave and finally the Asin River.

Since the lagoon needs its hole to be widened some more, a bigger bulk of the trash is left blocking the entrance of the hole itself. Proof of this is the garbage hauled out from the lagoon floor after the water has subsided.

Millions have been allotted for widening and improving the waterways but that did not stop the flooding that visited everytime rains poured continuously. What is more certain is that the improvement projects that come as dictated by whatever “circumstances” there are, line the pockets of the few who have profited from it.

Stop cursing the typhoons and start blaming ourselves, including our urban managers. Many years ago, I wrote in this space about the exaggerated conversion of Baguio’s lands from being water-absorbent to becoming expanses of solid concrete. The yearly flooding, landslides and other disasters that hit our communities are partly the results of senseless moves toward a wrong but “profitable” idea of development and urbanization.

The “aramid ti pakakitaan” mindset has shifted its definition to mean “utak cemento.” It has successfully plastered Baguio’s porous soil and open vegetation that absorb water and slow down flooding. In 10 years, Baguio’s mindless march towards “utak cemento” development will lead to an urban sprawl of concrete jungle that surely we do not want.

Now, what is reflected on the floodwaters is not only the remains of Noah's wooden ark nor the shallow-mindedness of victims who are directly affected by it and who still choose to stay and wait for the waters to rise, while the list of familiar names of permanent beneficiaries of relief goods is prepared.

While waters rise, social workers and rescue teams prepare for the worst to happen for the same victims. The floods also remind of our carelessness. It tells about lawmakers and lawbreakers rolled into one. The flood speaks about men in government who claim of protecting the environment but at the same time allow trees to be cut for the expansion of concrete structures by their private benefactors.

The coldness of the floodwaters reminds about LGU chief executives who, on the one hand, claim to be against illegal settlers but, on the other hand, sponsor and sign land applications of the same. Now, underneath the flood, millions of government funds are washed away by underwater current while the statistics of death, damage to property and experiences in decades past, along with man’s inexcusable activities are drowned in Manila Bay and Asin river, and permanently forgotten. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com