FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY

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BY IKE SEÑERES
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The bottom line of flooding

I DO NOT believe that the main cause of flooding is the garbage that clogs our drainage systems. In the first place, I do not believe that we have enough drainage systems to take in the rain water, clogged or not.
I do believe that the lack of trees is a major factor in the intensity of the flooding, but that is not the main problem either.
By definition, a drainage system is the “means” needed so that the water could take a “journey” to a “destination.” The “destination”, of course, is a catchment that is usually a waterway or a stagnant body of water such as a lake or pond. In a manner of speaking, both the “journeys” and the “destinations” are equally important, meaning to say that both of them should not be clogged.
By way of comparison, the water from the mountains also take a “journey”, but not all of the water is supposed to flow towards a “destination”, because the bulk of it should be absorbed along the way by the soil along the path.
There is a problem, however, when the soil along the way is unable to hold what it absorbs, and this is where the trees have a role to play, because it is the roots of the trees that strengthen the holding capacity of the soil. Downwards, the water that continues with the flow is supposed to go towards the natural watersheds that are supposed to hold the volume of the water that comes in.
If we look at the old maps of the Philippines, we could see the waterways and stagnant bodies as they were, before they were covered up or reduced in size. These maps would also show the rice fields, fish ponds and salt beds before they were covered up or reduced in size to give way to “development.”
As seen from the top, it would appear that the problem would be the disappearance of open space or the reduction in size capacity, but actually that is not the only problem. The more crucial problem it seems is the reduction in depth, because the bottoms of these waterways and stagnant bodies are already full of silt and other foreign matter, all of which are reducing their capacity to hold water.
Years ago, I read about a mayor of a foreign city who tore down an overpass and dug up the soil underneath, to be able to recover and restore the river that once flowed along the way. To me, that is the political will that is needed to bring back to normal the flow of water in all areas where there is clogging already. I am sure that that mayor probably considered what it cost to build the overpass, but in the process of doing that, he probably figured out that the cost to the life and properties is much greater if the floods would come to bring destruction.
I had the chance to visit the cleanup projects of Ms. Gina Lopez in the creeks that are leading towards the Pasig River. As much as I saw that the problem there is environmental and technical, I also saw that the real problem is cultural and political, and I will tell you why I am saying so.
According to the law, and assuming that we base it purely on the law, there is supposed to be an easement between the edge of the river, and the demarcation line where the “development” is supposed to start. Almost everywhere along those creeks, the easement rule was broken, and not only that, many illegal structures were even extended several meters into the spaces above the water.
I say that the problem is cultural, because everyone in that area, including the long succession of local government officials who have come and go over that years have either tolerated it, or have not done anything to fix it.
Of course, the problem is also political, because the squatters who have colonized the easement areas are also the same voters and supporters that the local politicians would like to patronize and keep. Believe it or not, I even saw structures put up by the local governments unit right in the middle of the creeks.
Lest we forget, Atty. Tony Oposa has already won a landmark case that has ordered all local government units that are connected to the Pasig River and the Manila Bay to clean their water or else their local officials would become liable. This is already an advanced stage that we have reached; we just have to keep the momentum.
All told, it is now up to us to plant the trees, to clear the drainage systems and to dredge the waterways and the stagnant bodies of water. Beyond that, why not tear down all structures above the dead creeks and rivers, and dig these up to bring it back to life again?/PN
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