What are our City and Provincial governments doing about proactive disaster preparedness?
Lessons have to be learned as we have watched TV images of thousands of people in Metro Manila and its outlying provinces inundated with floods, and houses obliterated by landslides.
It is important to note that the floods originated from days of rains, resulting from southwest monsoons, and later, with the arrival of Typhoon Helen.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical & Seismological Services Administration was blamed for not fully predicting the extent and volume of the rainfall. But it is important to remember that it is usually at this time of the year when heavy rainfall with or without storms occurs. It is an annual event which should be dealt with before it happens.
While the City and the Province were spared of the most devastating effects of the monsoon rains, we should remind our government officials as to their proactive list of things to do to address possible flood scenarios especially in landslide-prone areas.
There is a geohazard map published on the PAGASA website, and it is best for the officials to look into the problem before a disaster occurs.
This University Town is rich with brains and talents when it comes to environmental concerns.
Silliman University has access to national and international research data, on climate change and measures to address the problem as its President, Ben Malayang III, was a former Undersecretary of Environment & Natural Resources, and whose expertise can be tapped. St. Paul University has an award-winning Solid Waste Management Program which can be expanded to involve the community at large.
Foundation University has been involved in the rehabilitation of Banica River, with student involvement in all levels.
The Negros Oriental State University has its programs which address environmental concerns.
So you see, there are a lot of resources that can be tapped starting with the Universities alone.
There has to be a community-wide, comprehensive program to address the problem of flooding and climate change to avert disasters when the deluge will come. The management of garbage should be a priority issue.
The problem should be an immediate concern for the local government, before what happened to Manila could happen here.
