By Joel B. Belinan
Typhoon Maring’s onslaught last Monday night reconfirmed what climate change experts have been saying all along. More and more extreme climate phenomenon like that will happen, and we may have lesser number of typhoons but would be stronger and more destructive. Since this appears unavoidable, we have to adapt instead of believing some who are denying its existence. For how could we explain the more and more destructive nature of typhoons and monsoon rains now, not only in our God forsaken country but all over the world? By the way, when it comes to disasters, only Bangladesh beats us in the top disaster-prone list.
We do, however, have another description of being the most resilient people in overcoming disasters which is perhaps due to our experiences every year. I don’t know though if that is good or bad or if that is true on how the government responds. For if the government is learning from experiences of the past, then maybe their foresight should enable them to anticipate and prepare the country for upcoming climate-related problems.
During Typhoon Maring, most common posts on social media were on flooding due to the heavy downpour not only in the lowlands but even here in the Cordillera. Next were on landslides that rendered many of our roads closed, including those in hazardous areas. It was on such areas where houses inhabited by many of the casualties were found.
Talking about foresight and learning from the past, I remember a story from one of the books of my Guru, Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar. There was an ancient village in India that was very prosperous and peaceful. Villagers lived a happy and easy life due to their always very good farm produce, and their income from their industries. The village was also blessed with a very good climate and law-abiding people who cared for each other, etc.
Then one day, a man from nowhere came to the village and started destroying whatever he could, and hurting those who could not run or avoid him, then he vanished like smoke.
After another month this man reappeared and started doing the same thing before disappearing again. And he kept going back doing the same thing month after month. The villagers then held a meeting to address the monthly visit of that wicked man. The village organized a security brigade, while people started securing their surroundings– building fences around their houses, a thing they never did before, and they made stronger doors and windows to prevent the man from entering. Thus, when the man reappeared, he was caught by the security brigade thus was unable to destroy a single property due to the precautionary measures.
The point of the story is that we could learn from experiences or, in this situation, government should learn and be proactive instead of reactive. One example is the flooding in La Trinidad Valley especially that area below the provincial capitol and most parts of the Swamp area. As had been pointed out by many, the Balili River outlet that is joined by the creek that comes from the Buyagan Poblacion area has become too narrow to accommodate the volume of water passing through. It then created a backwater effect that stagnated the water which overflowed to the already flooded Swamp area. This situation have been experienced before the earthquake which necessitated the widening project on that area before. However, that was more than 30 years ago. There is a need to adjust according to the situation now, apart from the fact that the river may have been heavily silted already. And since Benguet has one of the biggest Infrastructure funds now, such project should have been a priority.
During this calamity period, small initiatives that show our compassion for those in need will go a long way and such, if done by our leaders will be long remembered. During the onslaught of the typhoon Monday night, I saw several posts of stranded travelers and motorists along the Halsema Highway particularly near the half tunnel at Atok where a rock slide rendered the road closed. Of course, people were soaking wet, and knowing how cold it was in that place, the people suffered a lot. I even saw a post of a compatriot from Besao asking if there was a nearby house where they could spend the night and warm themselves. Of course, there were responses about some family houses they could try to look for or walk to including the Anglican Church which was not very far. The point here is if some of the government functionaries in the area could have taken the initiative to offer these people a temporary shelter at that particular time, it would go a long way in comforting and in making the people safe, and that would be etched deep in their hearts. On the morning of Tuesday, the road was not yet opened and if those people were not able to find some shelter, I could just imagine the hardship they would have endured overnight.
In downtown Baguio where all government services were supposed to be available, it was noted that there were people who were soaking wet waiting for a ride home in the middle of the night. Taxis and jeeps were also manned by people and they got wet and tired.
My friend Coach Nic Calinao in his post in our Burnham Park Group Chat site narrated that they were at least 20 waiting for a taxi along Session Road at midnight. That time the rain was too strong that really soaked them. They have been waiting for hours to no avail. Suddenly, a police mobile came and offered Coach Nic and company a ride home. Hagabi Bilibli (Rogel), a police friend who himself is a boxing fitness enthusiast at our Burnham Park Team in his response to the post of Coach Nic said that Baguio City Police Director P/Col. Glen Lonogan did the initiative of dispatching most of the city police mobile patrol vehicles to ferry stranded people in the city to their residences. Sgt. Bilibli said that this is the difference when our BCPO director is from here as he feels the needs of the people. He hastened to add that P/Col. Lonogan is an Igorot born and raised here.
Small help like that at a time when people urgent need it can be lifesaving and will surely bring back our people’s hearts and trust to each other and, if it’s done by officials, towards the government.**
