Release of dam waters during typhoon 'criminal'

Stop this blabber about the Filipino being resilient. It's becoming an excuse to belittle disaster prevention for, after all, Filipinos readily will bounce back. Not only Filipinos but all races are sturdy, proved in separate rise of civilizations. Only a frog in the well thinks otherwise; for it the sky is as big only as the mouth of the well.

Cagayan Valley folk will have nowhere to go but back up. Still that doesn't mean those who caused last Thursday night their worst flood in 40 years can be cleared of criminal liability. The culprits ignored science. They defied law and protocol. Pay they must.

Culpability can be gleaned from the alibis. Like, as a disaster agency spokesman said, the mighty Cagayan River, onto which Magat Dam spills, was swollen from weeks of rain before Thursday's typhoon. Too, that eight inflow rivers from Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, and Isabela had filled Magat to the brim. Then as dam managers said, they began releasing water from two sluices two days before typhoon, but had to open all seven sluices as it raged, lest the dam break. And, as the Palace spox said, they were not caught flatfooted because they already had prepositioned typhoon relief. The officials were looking everywhere but the imminent harm to hundreds of thousands of people downstream of Magat.

That 2020 is a La Niña year, hence extra rainy, was known since June. On Oct. 2 weathermen said the phenomenon would last not only till February, as earlier forecast, but November 2021. Using past La Niña records, dam managers could thus gradually have released more water earlier. This would have washed out to sea. As noted, Magat was filling up, and Cagayan River rising. They need not have waited for typhoon to soak the land before sluice opening.

The sluices should have been opened as early as three to four days before typhoon landfall, scientists said. After all, that's the Magat management protocol. Besides, typhoon water volume is measurable by Doppler radar and other means. A simple call to the weather bureau would have told dam managers what to expect.

Now the dam managers are saying they issued enough flood warnings. Valley folk supposedly were alerted by radio, tv, text, and email to move to higher ground. But where, how? They opened the sluices in the dead of night. People were fast asleep when the river torrents smashed their homes.

It's criminal negligence, the lawyer-governor of Cagayan province said. Magat down-flows have been ruining houses, farms, and shops every year.

There are other culprits: Bureaucrats tasked to preserve forests and clear the waterways. They must be grilled about flood-causing denudation and river clogging by industrial-commercial outfits.

Victims are planning to sue for damages. Their officials must support that, not just pat their backs for resiliency and blame all on nature.

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Giving is infectious. Upon receiving cash aid, typhoon victims in Batangas City at once donated a part to similarly stricken folk in faraway Bicol.

Tzu Chi Foundation Phils. organized relief for 260 poor households in Tierra Verde community. Via cash-for-work, they were to

clear their lots and roads of mud and rubble, and be fed for the day. In less than a week, the neighborhood was spic and span. Tzu Chi volunteers announced how much each family was to get: P20,000. Residents wept for joy at the unexpected amount, more than two months' wage for most of them.

Most readily re-donated P1,000. Some, P500. Others ran home to get their piggy banks.

Returning P1,000, Julia de Villa, 64, said she was touched by the compassion of Tzu Chi founder, Dharma Master Cheng Yen. A devotee of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Julia sets aside monthly donations for a Catholic charity. She said she will now also regularly give to Tzu Chi.

Melvin Dagli, 41, recently lost his overseas work due to the pandemic. After receiving the cash aid from Tzu Chi, he went home then came back with a plastic container filled with coins. It was his family's emergency fund. He wished to give it to typhoon victims in Bicol, "or to anyone whom Tzu Chi deems in need of help."

Nora Abacan, 49, cried on receiving P20,000. Two months ago, her husband Dante, 55, fell ill. Dante refused to see a doctor because of unaffordable diagnostics and medicines. Nora said they will use the money to have him undergo tests. Thankful, Dante feels less of a burden to his family.

Beatrice Pajarito, 24, did not expect the huge amount. Her family shared some with other typhoon victims. Their streets and homes have been cleaned so she said it was time to give back.

Esperanza Javier, 50, will buy new furniture and beddings for her family. But she also promised to share with those in need, starting with her P1,000 donation.

Susan May Calalo, 53, doled P1,000, saying: "Tzu Chi's sincerity in sharing deeply touched me. From the news I saw the situation of our fellowmen in Bicol. We are more blessed compared to them."

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Former Fisheries agency head Asis Perez and entrepreneur Norbert Chincuangco would rather remain unnamed. But they wish to publicize the need for repair kits, P2,000-P3,000 apiece, to thousands of Catanduanes fishermen whose bancas were wrecked by typhoon.

The fishermen were hit by triple whammy: typhoons Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses. The project is called "Mini Ahon Part 2." If able to set out to sea again, the fishermen can feed themselves and no longer rely on relief.

Donations accepted: Tanggol Kalikasan Inc., Banco de Oro: 004210079580. Please private message or post your support on Norbert's fb wall for proper accounting.

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