The Ber months

When we enter the month of September, this is the beginning of what we call the "Ber Months". This is when we start hearing Jose Mari Chan's undying Christmas song in malls and other places. Some establishments have put up their Christmas decorations. Granada Street comes alive with a myriad of lanterns for sale. In other words, the country is preparing for the coming happy season.

But the Ber Months come also bring in strong typhoons and storms. September was coming to an end when typhoon Karding underwent an explosive intensification and sent the country panicking. Twelve people were confirmed dead and the supertyphoon caused widespread damage to the country. This was recently followed by typhoon Paeng which hit the country even worse.

A total of 155 were confirmed dead. Damage to infrastructure swelled to ?4.17 billion while damage to the agricultural sector was pegged at ?2.70 billion. Most of the dead were from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Landslides and floods caused most deaths. The death toll from the typhoon was unusually high. An explanation was that flooding and landslides were not expected in the BARMM area. But because typhoon Paeng covered a large swath of the country the region experienced heavy rain even though the eye of the storm did not pass through. The margins of the typhoon brought the rains.

It is also necessary to study all villages and barangays if they are at risk of flooding or landslides every time there is a typhoon. If a landslide is probable, people should not be allowed to live there. The uncontrolled cutting of trees is also blamed. I've been hearing that for the longest time, but nothing is being done by any administration to stop it. You can take a good guess as to why that is. The cutting of trees, whether legal or illegal, is a major cause of flooding. It seems people don't want to listen or learn.

There are a little under two months left in the year. We are not sure if a strong typhoon will form over the Pacific. President Marcos Jr. has placed Calabarzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, and BARMM under a state of calamity to help those affected. I hope the floods subside. I hope the lives of those affected will be brought back to normal. With COVID restrictions all but removed, people are eager to spend a happy holiday after more than two years of caution. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain on our parade.