NatureÆs angry wake up call û I

ThereÆs a saying that when Mother Nature vents its anger on mankind, itÆs in cataclysmic proportions. The gigantic Katrina cyclone that battered New Orleans, the disastrous ôtsunamiö that drowned Aceh and Indian Ocean coasts, the volcanic eruptions, the droughts in African countries, the flashfloods and landslides in Bangladesh and the Philippines and so on, ad infinitum, are just few samples.

 Fortunately, Cebu and the entire Central Visayas, and most of Mindanao have been spared from about 20 typhoons yearly that wrought perdition in lives and properties. But the recent ôcloud burstö phenomenon was a grim reminder that Nature has the last say. None anywhere is exempt from NatureÆs wrath.

 Specifically, even the religious piety of the Mandauehanons seemed to be a helpless puny ôdefenseö to the ôcloud burstö enigma that singled out Mandaue and its outlying neighborhood. In a matter of an hour or so, on that gruesome Tuesday, NatureÆs water literally converged on Mandaue, as in when it rains, it pours.

 Long, long before the Tuesday debacle that inundated MandaueÆs lowlands, and making a lagoon of the reclamation area, from Subangdaku, Tipolo, Guizo, Centro and up to Basak and other neighboring barrios, there had already been relentless worsening accumulations of water drainage obstructions. Subangdaku river, a misnomer for Mahiga Creek, Tipolo creek, GuizoÆs narrow water outlet, the Butuanon river, and other rills, canals, and smaller outlets overflowed many times over.

 The Mahiga Creek is the most critical and under emergency situation until now. Had the heavy rains happened in the dead of the night when sleeping residents were most vulnerable, there could have been many fatal victims from drowning in their sleep. Mahiga Creek has been the most abused natural waterway in Mandaue where squatters û never mind the ôinformal settlersö misnomer û have not only appropriated the 3-meter easement under PD 1067 and the civil law, but right smack on the river bed, and portions of the waterway, beyond the bank. The creek bed has over the years become so shallow because of man-made obstructions, and is literally the direct ôseptic tankö of human waste and household garbage.

 For instance, at the portion behind the manufacturer of edible oil, the Mahiga Creek bed is just one step from the surface. It is there that even ordinary rain, much more when it floods, that the overflow is diverted to the national highway. And when the overflow is heavy, it diverts to the right, inundating the Subangdaku Riverside sitio that siphons the flood waters into the basin-like ground where houses and shacks congest like wild mushrooms.

 Going upstream to Sitio Laray built on the bank on Mandaue side, up to and beyond Sitio Panagdait, Cebu City side, the creek is so constricted in width. In fact, up to Banilad where thereÆs a funeral service facility, thereÆs no more creek or waterway. Incidentally, near the Panagdait bridge, thereÆs a multi-storey edifice whose south foundation is smack on the creek. How its builder obtained a building permit without the 3-meter reservation for easement is a matter of wonder.

 Whether or not the two LGUs can evict these squatters and demolish immediately their illegal structures is moot and academic. Firstly, these houses are illegal from inception, without building permits, and also violative of the 3-meter easement. That Mandaue has declared the situation under calamity bespeaks the emergency situation calling for emergency measures. This is for the protection of the life and limb of the squatters themselves, for one. Secondly, the law (RA 7279) does not compel any LGU to provide a relocation site, if none is available; the law provides for alternative amelioration of paying an amount reckoned from the victimsÆ; daily wage earning times 60 days.

 ItÆs inspiring that Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes sounded gung ho in exercising summary police power under the general welfare clause in times of emergency conditions, like now, as regards the Mahiga Creek nuisance per se. Hopefully, all illegal structures or parts, like, walls, posts, toilets, foot bridges, railings, etc. on and within the banks have to be abated and removed immediately.

 (To be continued)

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