El Niño and La Niña are extreme weather fluctuations in surface waters of the Pacific Ocean. El Niño is the "extreme warm phase" while La Niña is the complete opposite or the "ultimate cold phase." It was El Niño that was the cause of the destructive forest fires in Asian countries extending to Indonesia and the Philippines. During the ’70s and the ’80s, both El Niño and La Niña occurred about every four to seven years but it became more frequent in the ’90s and at the start of the Year 2000.
No matter what we say everything depends on good weather. That is why normally most conversations start with the state of the weather. Another natural problem is, of course, earthquakes. We really believe that we should all be thankful for the fact that the Philippines has been almost totally spared from both devastating typhoons and earthquakes. When we saw how one hurricane totally destroyed the city of New Orleans and an earthquake caused millions of people to lose their homes in South Asia, how can we not be thankful that we have had no major natural calamities for so long?
What we must do is assure that people take all the precautions that can be taken to minimize the damage that earthquakes and typhoons can cause. Our homes and buildings should be constructed in a way they can resist strong winds and rains that come with typhoons and also tremors brought about by earthquakes. We have many high-rise buildings all over Metro Manila. Some of them are in earthquake faults. Were they constructed in floating foundations? We can’t help wondering how our skyscrapers will fare under a bad earthquake.
Again, we say, we are very thankful that the country has not undergone any major natural calamity for so long. Television now has the power to bring natural calamities that happen in New Orleans or South Asia right into our living rooms. We are very glad that according to the PAGASA studies, we will be enjoying favorable climate next year. Our next concern should be to minimize man-made disaster. Let us do away with terrorism and enjoy peace, order and justice. We are glad that even the Gloria step down rallies seem to be a thing of the past. Our peso is one of the most stable currencies in the world. If we all work together, the future generation will no longer be living in a third world country. It is up to us to determine the kind of country we want to be.