The ending year 2024 has been a sharp reminder that the country remains incapable of tackling the endless bane of rising waters, floods, and disasters caused by water. The country has reacted in bits and pieces—being grossly insufficient—to a problem for which experts have repeatedly sounded warnings, let alone the lived experience of an increasingly erratic climate. Days of continuous rainfall especially in Eastern Visayas just pointed to systemic inefficiency and misplaced priorities that are precisely the very cause of greater misery among communities vulnerable to such disasters.
The root of this crisis is the failure to give priority to and institute comprehensive flood management systems. Thus, the urban centers are unprepared for such a deluge with drainage systems that are outdated or utterly neglected. Rivers and waterways choked for decades by siltation and garbage easily overflow and inundate entire communities. Instead, the local governments merely wait for disasters to happen and thereafter offer temporary relief band-aid solutions through the distribution of relief goods without really addressing the root causes of these disasters.
Equally alarming is the lack of serious attention given to environmental preservation and restoration. Rampant deforestation, mining activities, and poorly regulated urban expansion have been ongoing, stripping the land of its natural capacity to absorb rainwater. Mangroves, serving as natural barriers against strong surges of storms, are often sacrificed for developments along coasts. It is these practices that leave communities defenseless against the wrath of nature, turning even just moderate rains into calamities.
Besides, ineffective national policies on climate resilience turn it for the worse. Being considered one of the highly vulnerable countries to climate change, disaster preparedness remains an underfunded and incoherently organized setup in our country. The handful present is majorly implemented within city areas, hence the need to leave the countryside—where infrastructure is so frail and poverty incidence high—on the mercies of increasing waters. The lack of foresight in urban planning also worsens the situation: communities are built in areas known to flood, ensuring that disaster strikes with grim regularity.
The country’s top brass needs to realize it cannot continue with piecemeal measures.
Indeed, what is urgently called for is a long-range, scientifically guided water-management policy involving better infrastructure to minimize flooding, strict law enforcement concerning the environment, and fair apportioning of funds for disaster management.
Difficult as these measures may prove to be, they hold the promise of breaking the cycle of suffering and ensuring that future generations inherit a nation that resists the forces of nature.
