Playing with Fire
Spare us, says Esperon!
By Gonzalo Duque
HOW disturbed we were when we passed by the Dawel-Lucao Diversion Road/Bridge recently.
Ugly. That’s what we saw of the mushrooming fish pens on the river at the Lucao-Pantal boundary. Puno ang ilog (the river is full of fishpens), we were wondering if there was any breathing space for the fishes there. Legal ba ito, Mrs. Emma Molina? She is the city agriculturist and is directly responsible for this ugliness in our city river system.
Dapat maimbestiga ya, ha, Prof. Nick Melecio? Ay naku kayo, pag nabaha ang Dagupan, isa kayo sa mga managot. At this writing (Thursday), we were already disturbed by reports that many parts of Dagupan were under water. Yes, yes, we were blaming the release by San Roque Dam of its excess water. But this kumpol kumpol ya fishpens, they are choking marine life in our river system.
The national government has already banned fishpens in Laguna Lake. Why? You know it. Because Metro Manila lost many lives and was severely damaged by Typhoons Ondoy and lately Pepeng due partly to clogged river systems.
Why are fishponds killjoy? Because they stifle, they choke our rivers. Even the taste of our world famous bangus already tastes bad, according to informed sources. Papano, kulang na ng malinis na oxygen ang ikinabubuhay na dating bangus dahil sa nag-uumpugang fishpens.
This paper for a while had launched a campaign against those fishpens. Probably it stopped highlighting this ugly problem because of assurances made by Administrator Alvin Fernandez and City Agriculturist Emma Molina that they were dismantling them. But have they? Our friends, however, think otherwise. Mas pumangit yong itsura ng Lucao-Pantal River by the diversion road. You, dear readers know what we are talking about. Sira ang itsura ng river system diyan sa Lucao-Pantal even if the Diversion Road is clean and heavenly. Contrasting the view over there.
Please save our river. Save our bangus. Save our lives from floods and (ugh!) smelly bangus! Remove those illegal and unsightly fishpens. Let’s not wait for the day our rivers would be like Laguna Lake. Isinusuka na ang Laguna Lake.
* * *
It’s clearing up. Because of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng (and what’s the third one again?) we now see that the major culprit in the flooding of Metro Manila was government officials’ neglect of the pernicious squatter problem.
The super-crowding of our rivers and other places that have blocked the free flow of water including the construction of subdivisions has been identified as the root of evil. Of course, other factors like the volume of rain and fish pens aggravated the problem.
Cainta, Marikina, Pasig were competing for valedictorian honors in the flooding issue. Two hundred died there. And homelessness has affected thousands of residents.
I remember in the 60’s – or was it in the 70’s? — our country was battered by nonstop rains for 40 days and 40 nights. There was flooding alright, but this magnitude.
Those in charge of mitigating floods should wage a holistic approach. It’s not yet too late. Let’s get rid of selfishness and greed, and things, we hope and pray would be restored to normal. Pray that it be so. Amen.
* * *
That column on Secretary Hermogenes Esperon as Pinoy man at storm center by our neighbor columnist caught our attention the other day.
Esperon, who shares the honor with brod Sec. Pingkoy, as Palasyo’s cabinet men for the north, is the hottest piece of talk in typhoon-ravaged Metro Manila and nationwide because he is the grand point man of the relief, rescue, evacuation and Oplan Sagip Bayan. Matinding trabajo yan mga igan. And on our way to Manila over the weekend, broadcasters in Pangasinan and he himself were always on the air for his “omnipresence” in typhoon- hit places in Rosales, Asingan and other Eastern Pangasinan towns, directing rescue efforts.
His heart, he told Orly Navarro and Cris Estolas of Bombo Dagupan, was bleeding because of the sight of provincemates distressed by the Thursday and Friday floods, mumbling, “God spare us.”
He brought a US helicopter, many rubber boats from the AFP, Red Cross, PNP and Philippine marines for rescue and evacuation efforts. Because of people like him, pain was mitigated in Pangasinan. Congratulate, too, Gov. Spines, Raffy Baraan and Butch Velasco for their timely warnings. And also the City’s Disaster Preparedness contingent led by Mayor Al Fernandez, their timely infos and warnings prevented so many of us from getting hit by the floods flat-footed. Disasters, they say, bring about villains and heroes. Let’s salute these heroes.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
