Floods: Poverty, population and pork

This whole week we were all subjected to a torrent of rains that we have not seen for years, with most people describing the downpour as “worse than Ondoy.” According to PAGASA, the total amount of rainfall recorded from August 17 to 21 far exceeded the average monthly amount of rainfall for August, and was twice the amount dumped by Typhoon Ondoy in 2009.  Aerial photos showed affected areas being transformed into rivers, with the floodwaters submerging almost 80 percent of the whole metropolis.

Hundreds of thousands were rendered homeless and, lets face it — there will never be enough evacuation centers, all of them filled to the brim — to accommodate the number of dislocated families that continue to increase every time major floods hit the country. Aggravating the cramped conditions in evacuation centers is the exposure of old people and children to infectious diseases that can easily spread in closely confined quarters.

Flooding has always been and will always be a perennial problem that can only get worse every year. Obviously, those who suffer most during floods are the low income, urban poor groups and informal settlers living along riverbanks and low-lying coastal areas that are the most vulnerable to rising tides and increasing water levels. Metro Manila is one of the most flood-prone for a number of reasons. One, the flood control system is obsolete, with old drainage pipes that cannot adequately cope with increased rainfall levels.

An assessment paper released by UP professors in the aftermath of Ondoy also pointed to the subsidence or land sinking happening in Metro Manila, citing the rapid and increased extraction of groundwater as an aggravating factor.  From 1991 to 2003, Metro Manila sank by an average of 5 to 9 cm per year, while mean sea levels have been rising by more than 2.5 cm per year since the 1960s. It’s easy to imagine what will most likely happen if land continues to sink while the sea level keeps rising. And even if groundwater extraction is stopped, subsidence can continue even decades after, an Australian expert had pointed out.

We all know by now that climate change is a major contributor to the frequency as well as the severity of floods that people have been experiencing. New studies suggest that coastal cities are at great risk of flooding, with sea levels expected to rise by more than three feet at the end of the century. According to a study released a few days ago by the Nature Climate Change journal, “Flood exposure is increasing in coastal cities owing to growing populations, the changing climate, and subsidence,” with global flood losses projected to increase to $52 billion by 2050 – compared to the average $6 billion yearly loss in 2005. 

The sad part is that today we are still debating the Reproductive Health Law when it is clear that unmitigated population growth negatively impacts natural resources, with developers reclaiming land and redirecting the natural flow of waterways to build more houses, while informal settlers build makeshift houses along rivers, creeks, empty lots – polluting these places with filth and garbage that exacerbate the flooding. People cannot remain blind or indifferent to the fact that children are the most vulnerable to diseases and other health risks when they are forced to live in the harsh, squalid conditions we see in informal settlements with inadequate health and sanitation facilities. 

And when we see all of these and hear about the obscene amount of taxpayer money siphoned by bogus NGOs on ghost projects that are supposed to benefit the farmers, the fisher folk, and the poorest and neediest of Filipinos — we all get infuriated and start to think  — P10 billion can build more than 13,000 classrooms which can substantially help address the classroom shortage of 23,376. This year alone, 4.6 million high school kids particularly in rural areas were unable to enroll due to classroom shortage.

The P10 billion is more than enough to cover the cost of rehabilitating the drainage system in Manila pegged at P5 billion. That amount can certainly go far in helping cover the estimated P18 billion cost of dredging and rehabilitating Laguna Lake which governor ER Ejercito described as “the country’s biggest septic tank” because it has been virtually turned into a dumping ground of waste coming from surrounding areas that include Metro Manila, Rizal, Batangas, Cavite and Quezon, with 100 rivers and streams draining into the lake. Not surprisingly, Cavite and Laguna were two of the most devastated by Maring and the monsoon rains, with both provinces placed under a state of calamity – the devastation described as “worse than Ondoy and the (2012) Habagat combined.”

And now we hear the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam ascribed to Janet Napoles is a mere drop in the bucket, with the COA saying the total pork – euphemistically called the Priority Development Assistance Fund – released to legislators from 2007 to 2009 alone amounted to P116 billion, while excess appropriations amounted to P50 billion. 

Just like the trash and garbage that float when the floodwaters come, the PDAF abuses that have surfaced will continue to spark a flood of outrage among many Filipinos – triggering calls for a protest march tomorrow against the pork barrel. To avoid the raging flood of anger, majority of Senators now say they want to abolish the pork. The president himself has avoided testing the floodwaters and rightly listened to his “real bosses” judging from his decision to now abolish the pork barrel system. The world has indeed changed with the Internet and social media. Politicians can no longer ignore the collective voice of the people.

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