Mitigating natural disasters

Before we proceed with this Sunday piece, following a disastrous typhoon and flooding, let it be known that the government’s Small Business Corp. provides calamity funds for businesses in areas officially declared as calamity zones, lending P300,000 interest-free. The Bridge assists.

Typhoons and extreme weather are natural phenomena that pose hazards to society, which science and technology have not yet fully addressed and mitigated. These natural occurrences present agonizing periods in our lives and, in fact, bring about horrible consequences for mankind in general.

They do not spare any geographical area or country, irrespective of whether one is the number one economy or the most powerful nation on Earth. We witness the occurrence of floods and devastation wherever typhoons or cyclones hit, be it one or multiple places.

It is evident that we may not be able to perfectly mitigate natural disasters, although competent government officials act proactively, as required by their oath of office, to provide their constituencies with protection and safeguards against nature’s wrath. We may not be able to do enough — whether through engineering or other measures — to lessen or minimize its tragic effects. However, we can mitigate them if we resolve to do so.

Of course, this is aside from the fact that we are absolutely certain that not all officials, whether appointed or elected, are competent and proactive enough to strategically plan ahead, although some tactical measures could be instituted, depending on the intellect and will of our officials. To some extent, this allows us to address potential problems that arise from natural disasters.

Storms, heavy rainfall, and flooding, which recently turned most of the Bicol provinces and many other places across Luzon into seas of rainwater, are common occurrences. The lake-like flooding of communities, towns, and cities has become the norm. Looking at these miserable situations and seeing people stranded on rooftops present a helpless state every time we are confronted with nature’s wrath.

Laypeople and hydraulic engineers have been proposing dams and impounding structures of various configurations or sizes, even homes with tanks, which I saw as common in Australia, to direct water flow and capture the huge water volume instead of devastating precious agricultural crops, our homes, and other facilities. But we don’t see much of that; it’s mostly talk and press releases. There is little that is tangible, and that’s why we remain in peril every time a typhoon hits us.

Reportedly, projects are on track and planned by the current administration. That is good, and there is quite an understanding among the public that having been in office for just a couple of years is, for now, an excuse.

The issue at hand is the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), which, then and now, has failed and continues to fail us, especially our poor land tillers. There aren’t enough irrigation facilities for better rice production. It is both disgusting and shameful before the international community that we hold a Guinness record as the world’s largest importer of rice.

This is particularly appalling considering the Philippines has the International Rice Research Institute, established decades ago in the UP Los Baños Complex, to improve rice productivity. The agricultural institute produced skilled Asian rice farmers who learned the technology, or tricks, so to speak.

The Thais and Vietnamese, among others, became major rice exporters to such an extent that these two countries are now our major sources of rice to feed our countrymen. What Filipino officials learned was to import the staple, sacrificing our impoverished farmers. With huge kickbacks from the sellers, there was no encouragement to plant better-yielding rice breeds to satisfy one’s greed.

Come to think of it, with perennial huge kickbacks, why, of course, would corrupt officials push a program that would make the country not only self-sufficient in rice but also a major supplier to the world markets?

(To be continued)

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