By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
Almost to the day, 32 years after the July 16, 1990 killer earthquake, we got a milder one. A reminder?
During that 1990 shaker, buildings were toppled and thousands were killed. Corpses were lined along streets near funeral parlors. There were not enough coffins and northing could be brought in from the outside. All roads going in and out of the city were closed.
Baguio was isolated as a lot of landslides happened everywhere. The city was literally in darkness. There was hunger and epidemics were threatening to break out. Corpses already smelled. After many days, some were able to reach the city by hiking.
Some radio stations also started to broadcast with prayerful, teary and heart rending voices the real situation in the city.
A number of those who went on air have seen the worst that could happen to Baguio. It was hell. One even said that it was God’s punishment for our having destroyed it.
Everybody repented. Certainly, those who lost some family members cried to high heavens. Nothing could have been worse.
But lo and behold, after a number of years, we were back again to our dastardly ways. We were destroying our environment and with a vengeance. Not only was the city suffering decay, we had also been destroying our life sustaining resources such as our sources of potable water.
Most of all, we had been facilitating the city’s overpopulation so it is now bursting at the seams. No appreciable efforts are being undertaken to encourage out-migration by fueling national policies to decentralize development which will mean creating of opportunities in outlying areas.
The opposite is happening. Centralization is the order of the day. Local governments are prioritizing development within their areas of jurisdiction thereby attracting in-migration.
There is no sharing of resources to balance things out by enabling the rural areas to catch up with urban centers.
We have intently listened to the latest SONA of the president and there was nothing towards that end.
So the process will continue. Concentration of resources in a few areas thereby attracting like flies the people in less fortunate zones. Great imbalances are occurring and will continue to occur.
Will we be able to live in wholesome cities? It will not happen.
How about the repentance we experienced right after the July 16, 1990 quake? It was like sound that entered one ear and then immediately got out of the other. Not even so many deaths could wake us up from our stupidity. It is human nature.
We forgot the best definition of GOD I ever heard. The letters stand for Generator, Operator and Destroyer.
The magnitude 7 earthquake we experienced the other day appears to have been too mild for us. Perhaps we need something a lot stronger to make us again aware of how irresponsible we had been as universal citizens.
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