EDITORIAL – Frustrations can sometimes get in the way

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes is right to feel slighted by remarks reportedly made by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama concerning problems with flood-related problems concerning dwellings that line the Mahiga Creek. If Rama was quoted correctly, he was supposed to have said that Mandaue should do the same after he ordered several footbridges spanning the waterway following a particularly crippling flood that hit both cities recently.

Actually, it was not clear what Rama meant when he said Mandaue should do the same after ordering the dismantling of the Mahiga footbridges. But apparently the media took it to mean that Rama was blaming Mandaue for certain unspecified shortcomings concerning the dwellings. These dwellings are obstructing the flow of water on Mahiga Creek, which for a certain length forms part of the boundary between the two cities, and this constriction causes flooding during heavy rains.

The fact that Mahiga Creek forms part of the boundary between the two cities, and that dwellings line the creek on both sides, only shows that the problem involves both cities. So when the mayor of one city says something to the other, no matter how unclear the message may be, the other one will naturally bristle, especially if it comes after a particularly massive flooding.

Cortes has his hands full when it comes to flooding as is Rama. Rama may only have given vent to his own frustrations. But as an official holding a very high position, he should learn to be more circumspect especially in making comments about a problem that he himself has not been able to solve. As a consolation to both mayors, there is no mayor in the country today who can put a real lid on the problem of flooding.

As climatologists have been saying, changing weather patterns owing to global warming and climate change now make rains more frequent and more heavy and there is hardly anything that officials can do except mitigate the consequences. In such a situation, it does not solve anything to engage in finger-pointing over something that cannot be solved but only be mitigated.

On the matter of Mahiga Creek, it does not follow that if Cortes does his job and Rama does not, or vice versa, that flooding will cease in either city, depending on which has a mayor that is doing something. In other words, regardless of who is doing the job, the flooding will always happen in both cities, and in fact in almost anywhere where the rains fall.

Therefore, the least anyone can do is stop the blame game and just do what one can under the circumstances. With both mayors having let off steam, perhaps they can now forget the regretable incident and just do what they are expected to do, which is to act the part of real fathers of their respective localities and try what they can to lessen the impact of climate change.