Operation Brotherhood

The events that transpired during this past week have put us all to a test. It has certainly challenged government officials to think! Think! Think! It has aroused socio-civic organizations to work on a 24/7 time period to organize relief efforts. It has assembled private citizens to work together for a common cause. It has proven the resilience of our people and has brought us closer together in brotherhood.

Every family and community has created their own outreach projects to help the victims of Typhoon Ondoy and now Typhoon Pepeng. In our community, we call our outreach relief efforts, Operation Brotherhood. This spirit amongst our countrymen is strongest especially in times of need. This marvel happens when someone is willing to help you get out when you are in trouble. In these times of need, we turn to our friends and neighbors. We have no other choice but to trust them and hope that we will find refuge in their homes and hearts. We see many Pinoys willing to go out of their way to help and save others on unconditional terms – sacrifice and selflessness. In reality, it is never easy to do just anything or everything to help other people out in any way possible no matter what the circumstances are, but we saw it happening in front of our very eyes. Truly, it makes me all the more proud to be a Filipino!

When you do something for someone else, it feels good. For as long as the Filipinos can, I am sure, we will always help other people. This trait runs in our blood. It is in our heritage and more importantly it is in our faith. While watching the news, I could not stop my tears from flowing knowing that we have only ourselves to depend on. In my heart, I feel sad that our country is in such a state. Indonesia and Samoa also experienced calamities worse than ours, but recovered faster because of their disaster management programs. This just goes to show how inadequate government service is in this country. Even if we see their efforts to provide the much needed aid to save lives, it’s too late. Can you imagine how enormous this problem is? It begins from the barangay level up to Congress and Senate. Even with the heavy rains, we still could have addressed its aftermath in more efficient ways and means.

Talk about the flood in the Marikina River. Last Saturday, I woke up seeing how brown the Marikina River was. Wow! All the water seemed to be coming from the San Mateo mountain ranges that have been largely denuded for real estate or industrial development. That was not just rainwater flowing along the riverbanks. It was clearly water coming from the mountains caused by erosion.

The Marikina River is a main river system in Eastern Metro Manila. It stretches from Rodriguez, Rizal, to Pasig City and connects to the Pasig River as major tributary. It flows in the center of Marikina Valley because of the mountain ranges of Sierra Madre on the east and Capitol Hills in Quezon City on the west. It intersects with the Pasig River along the Manggahan Floodway. The Manggahan Floodway connects the Pasig River and Marikina River with Laguna de Bay. Its water flows from the upper portion of the Marikina River into the Manggahan Floodway then directly to the Laguna Lake. It has 7 creeks and waterways connected to it. The water coming from the creeks has many soil particles causing the river to be filled with soil particles coming from residential-industrial land. Clearly, we have a problem of deforestation. We are abusing and damaging our land.

According to urban planner Felino “Jun” Palafox, the flood disaster that struck Metro Manila over the weekend was not an act of God but a sin of omission by government and private real estate developers. He further said that a land use plan that took floods into consideration was drawn up as far back as 1977, titled “ Metro Manila Transport, Land Use and Development Planning Project,” sponsored by the World Bank. This study had already noted the possibility of heavy flooding in at least three sites of urban growth in the Philippine capital – the Marikina Valley and its northern and southern parts, the very same areas damaged by the recent floods. But the government (previous and present) did nothing to mitigate flooding and other problems identified in the study.

The Manggahan floodway was constructed to drain floodwater from the mountains flowing through Marikina River into the Laguna Lake. But what happens when the Laguna Lake overflows? That is why there is a need for a spillway in Parañaque to drain excess water from Laguna Lake to Manila Bay. But the government never constructed it. The study also proposed desilting the Pasig and Marikina Rivers to accommodate more water. Again, it was not done.

In addition to the lack of foresight, there was also a chronic oversight by government over the years on the issue of garbage and illegal logging.

The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity. Disregard or ignorance of intrinsic value, lack of ascribed value, lax forest management and deficient environmental law are some of the factors that allow deforestation to occur on a large scale. In many countries, deforestation is an ongoing issue that is causing extinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of indigenous people.

Environmental issues affect every life on this planet from the smallest parasite to the human race. The reason for this is simple. A single disruption in the Earth’s delicate balance can mean certain destruction of the very place that cradles the lives of many species. What is not so simple is finding alternative solutions to the now dangerous and confronting acts of planet degradation that have been afflicted on the planet over recent years.

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These recent natural calamities bring to mind the story of Noah’s Ark. A good friend and a veteran stage actor-singer, Carlo Orosa played the role of NOAH in the much-acclaimed play produced by Trumpets at the Meralco Theater recently.

When Noah was 600 years old, God, saddened at the wickedness of mankind, decided to send a great deluge to destroy all life. But he saw that Noah was a righteous man, and so instructed him to build an ark and gather himself and his family with every type of animal. The 40 days and 40 nights of rain began as stated in Genesis. Noah’s family and the animals inside the ark tried to make the most out of their perceived imprisonment while the world outside was being besieged by a great flood.

The play “NOAH,” came at the right time. It reminded us how the Great Flood cleansed the world. Not only were trash and decadence washed away, but it also signified how good triumphs over evil.

The day of reckoning has indeed come upon us. Will the turn of events change the minds and hearts of the people in public service? Or will they go back to their usual ways after things have settled down? Abangan.