EDITORIAL - Mother Nature provides no relocation

One thing missing, and perhaps recklessly ignored, in the continuing debate over illegal structures clogging the city’s waterways is the fact that these structures, and the people living in them, all stand in the way of danger and harm.

Regardless of whether those who have chosen to cast their lot with illegal dwellers did so out of the goodness of their hearts or for reasons only they know, the fact remains they are criminally negligent in refusing to warn of the risks of living right on natural waterways. 

The pro-poor advocates taking up the cudgels for dwellers of illegal structures clogging up waterways cannot claim sincerity if they focus only on the legalities that involve relocation and financial assistance or compensation. 

To prove the sincerity of their concern for the plight of these people, the pro-poor advocates must also exert great effort in creating awareness and understanding about the clear and imminent risk of living in the path of one of nature’s most destructive forces. 

To be swept away by rampaging floods is far more destructive and ruinous to human lives than failing to be provided relocation or extended financial assistance or compensation. A man with just the shirt on his back can live, but not the man with floodwaters over his head. 

It is one thing to be a bleeding heart, and another to be a practical friend. Sure, it feels nice to spread one’s arms as a shield against “illegal demolitions.” One can only hope it is possible to do the same when the rampaging walls of water come. 

Obviously, in a world of no perfect order, where opportunities are scant and the choices tough, it is the poor who must make great life-changing decisions than those who have the luxury to postpone making them or the means to buy out the option of not having to do so. 

That is pretty tough but that is the way it is. Dwellers of illegal structures clogging waterways can take heart in the advocacies protecting their legal and economic rights. But they need to always keep a finger up to know which way the wind blows. 

Mother Nature is notorious for not being a great respecter of human laws and rights. When she throws up a tantrum, there will be no prior notice of eviction, no provision for relocation. And when she leaves, all that will be left is a lot of finger-pointing.