The Luzon floods are our stern warning

When I saw on television yesterday, the sight of Metropolitan Manila under water, I was terrified. The memory of the flash floods that ravaged the northern part of Cebu City about a month ago haunted me. I could relate to the anguish Metro Manilans went thru as I remembered how horrible it was when waters, the first time in four decades of our stay at Villa Aurora,  rushed into my living room that fateful evening.

But, as Cebuanos felt the damage, we should ask our leaders to look beyond the horrific sight. The inundation was a wake up call. A very painful lesson had to be learned. The floods raised an urgent call for them to prepare Cebu for the unpredictable onslaught of rapidly changing weather conditions.

His Honor, Cebu City Mayor Michael L. Rama, started many months ago to clear our rivers and esteros. He certainly, was on the right track when he ordered the tearing down of the houses of informal settlers at Mahiga Creek. While he was temporarily stopped by informal settlers who went to court, we should not forget that the court action was the act of his political foe. In other words, the suit sought cover under our legal system even if it was founded on personal motivation.

So, as his first and immediate course of action, the mayor must proceed with what he commenced. The safety of our lives and properties depend on the success of his efforts. We fully realize that our rivers and esteros have got to be rid of intruders, people who have appropriated for their own selfish use the banks of existing waterways. The mayor has good and legal cause to remove these encroaching structures for the benefit of the greater mass.

Mayor Rama should even entertain a grim scenario. It would not be entirely impossible to imagine that people might take the law into their own hands. If the flow of rising water is impeded by illegal structures, we might find out that the only solution is to demolish these structures.  Self help is the name of the game. But, that could mean chaos, really.

Should the mayor proceed with the demolition of such houses that unlawfully usurped what is otherwise public domain, he will have done something to protect us from flash floods. His detractors might malign him but he will have the eternal gratitude of the many.

He should not stop there. His second action looms clear and mandatory. After removing the obstacles to the free flow of water, the mayor should put into plan the widening of the waterways. I have learned for instance that some portions of  the Mahiga Creek are as narrow as few feet in width only. The whole length used to be twenty meters wide. Many informal settlers and some moneyed families have caused the shrinking of this river with their own structures.  It is for the general welfare of the people if the mayor rushes thru the plan of  restoring Mahiga to its former width.

There is another viable move. By its nature, it cannot be done alone by the mayor. He needs the support of an otherwise opposition council. This can be an intermediate project which should start as a legislative measure of the Sanggunian Panlungsod.

What is it? Let us understand the reason waters rise so quickly as to inundate our city within an hour of heavy rainfall. This is because all our buildings are so constructed as to throw the rainwater to the canal system. Only a small quantity of the rain falls on and seeps thru the soil. If buildings were to retain say, the volume of water for an hour from the time rain starts, such process may allow the existing canal system to absorb the water.

An ordinance can take care of this solution to flash floods. It can be a part of the requirements for a building plan to be approved to provide such reservoir or a water cistern. Said differently, unless a plan incorporates the construction of the reservoir, it cannot pass approval of the building official.

In fine, the floods of Luzon the other days should prod our leaders to adopt drastic measures. We are at a point that we should be willing to try whatever it takes to steer us free from  such a calamity. 

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