Let’s clean our waterways

I saw on television recently a news story that, at the outset, just looked as ordinary as people trying to clear a river of trash. This took place when Luzon, after experiencing weeks of drought, felt the brunt of heavy rains generated by two typhoons following each other in close succession. It, actually, was footage of an unfinished bridge which, by all accounts, indicated its being a much delayed project in addition to the imputation of attending massive corruption. Whew!

As the story developed, the sight turned ugly and its foreseeable consequence loomed horrible. It, after all, was not just ordinary. I was angry that it seemed eternal for authorities to finish the bridge but I was even more terrified by the specter of man’s senselessness.

On national television, we saw an unbelievably huge pile of refuse clogging the river. Plastic bags and bottles occupied every conceivable square inch of what was a river. And “styropor” littered with cartons and useless automobile tires, among many undistinguishable garbage that if one did not know there was water beneath the garbage, he would entertain the thought that he could walk over. Where water was seen, it appeared eerily colored brown by the visible contaminants and it seemed not to flow anymore.

Up (and down) the stream, I could see the river banks ominously jagged by the presence of obvious physical encroachments. Some portions of the river were rendered very narrow by man’s home. This, to me, was the most unforgivable scene.

Oh, had man been only careful of his environment!

Here in our city, there are such places that have the tendency to replicate what I dreadfully saw on tv. Let me cite specific examples. One: As we walk on the San Nicolas bridge, we can see shanties erected on the dry river bed below not very far way from the foot of the bridge. They must have been built with nary a permit secured.  Two: Huts are sprouting somewhere midtown, beside the perimeter walls of the University of San Carlos Boys’ High School. Are they not multiplying daily? We can view them as we also cross the small bridge at the rear portion of the Iglesia Ni Kristo. Then, along the river which separates Cebu City and Mandaue City, particularly beside the bridge connecting barangays Subangdaku (of Mandaue) and Kasambagan (of Cebu), no one can miss the house protruding towards the middle part of the waterway. Yes, it hangs over the water level and skims its surface but we can never tell what may happen if the water swells.

I talk about these structures in these places because they represent what seem to have been built in utter defiance of our laws. Their owners, by not even attempting to hide these constructions in far distant places away from our plain view, challenge the legal order. They are supposed to know that buildings put up on dried parts of river beds or on the banks or hanging over the water are illegal per se. Yes, they are presumed to understand that the law prohibits these structures because, in the lowest form of reasoning, they impede the flow of water. But, they continue to do what is prohibited.

   I like to believe though that if our authorities are true to their sworn duty to uphold the law, they could not miss these illegal structures.  Differently said, the continued assault on our laws by these unauthorized buildings is (or must be) anchored on the implied consent of our officials. It is worse if our leaders have given them a direct assurance that the mantle of government authority would be used to protect their illegal activities.

Why do I feel strongly on this issue? Water, as my high school teacher taught me, seeks its own level. When water does not run its course either because the bed has, by reason of the structures, been raised considerably higher, or blocked by such constructions and attendant alluvium (or avulsion), it inundates the nearby low-lying areas. The resulting flood is a disaster by any measure bringing forth untold miseries where they could have been avoided. In other words, I am afraid that, given our complacency, the horrible sight I saw on television might, for similar causes taking place in Luzon, be actualized in our own setting.