As we write this column, it has been raining for three straight days in Pangasinan and several residents from low-lying areas in the province have already complained of flash floods.
In nearby Calasiao town, for instance, a river has already overflowed and submerged parts of barangays Lasip and Talibaew.
Frankly, we are no longer surprised by these reports and we should not blame nature for unleashing its wrath on us. We only have ourselves to blame.
Consider this: There is not much left of our forest covers, especially on the mountain ranges surrounding Pangasinan, and illegal and legal logging operations continue to denude our remaining forests. As a result, our river systems, our first line of defense from floods, are now heavily silted because of soil erosion. Add to this the tailings from the open pit mines in the Cordilleras.
In town and urban centers, the natural channels of floodwaters have been closed or blocked, intentionally or unintentionally, as commercial buildings and subdivisions are built. And as more houses rise in a locality due to increasing population, the water outlets vanish.
Our best example here would be Urdaneta City. This year, it experienced the worst flood ever. Everybody was surprised that the floodwaters rose rapidly, not giving enough time to many residents to leave their homes and evacuate. Is this the price of development?
What scares us is that the national government is very much aware of this problem. Yet, it does little or nothing at all to solve this. Or has the problem come to a point where it is already irreversible? In Metro Manila, for instance, no matter how the authorities have cleared the esteros and waterways of garbage and squatters, the flooding problem is still the same.
The effort to prevent the flooding in Pangasinan from getting worse is a serious problem that needs a more intensive planning. It is not just tree planting now. Or dredging. Or building of more dikes.
It should be a community working closely together, fully aware that it has to fight for its survival.
*****
The swift and decisive action of Calasiao Mayor Roy Macanlalay to close down all eateries fronting the Calasiao Comprehensive National High School saved thousands of students from the dreaded typhoid fever. He has proved to be a good crisis manager.
There are now more than 40 students downed by the disease, which was initially thought of to be dengue fever, when it first manifested last week. This was the reason CCNHS principal Lourdes Servito immediately ordered all students to wear long pants to avoid being bitten by dengue mosquitoes.
But after the school premises were fumigated, it was found that an eatery outside the school has been serving contaminated drinking water.
I am sure that this incident has become a valuable learning experience for the municipal government of Calasiao, especially in liberally allowing food vendors to sell their products without the necessary clearance from the Bureau of Food and Drugs or from the local Municipal Health Office.
Knowing Mayor Roy, I am sure that he has tasked the MHO to draw up guidelines that would govern small kakanin and palamig vendors in selling their products to ensure the safety of consumers, especially students.
Mayor Roy should also include an accreditation process for all vendors and a regular seminar on food handling. It is very important for the municipal government to know who are selling just as it is important for these vendors to be educated on food handling.
ENDNOTES: Urdaneta City, under the leadership of Mayor Amadito Perez, recently placed 2nd in the League of Cities of the Philippines’ 2nd Best Practices Award for its “Tulungan sa Purok” Program, a pro-poor project of the city government. Dagupan City was 7th in the same competition for its “Bangus Festival”…
QUOTE: My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. -- Maya Angelou
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