Think about it
In the US, Dawana talks about dredging Dagupan rivers
By Jun Velasco
JUDGING from the animated exchange between the speakers and the students in last Saturday’s climate change forum, we got the sense the Pangasinan public wouldn’t be caught with pants down if a Typhoon Pepeng Part 2 occurred (God forbid!).
It would have been better if parents took part in that forum because there were pointers the speakers discussed the young audience couldn’t do, such as particular places one should not build a house, how to secure it from strong typhoons, and other contingencies.
Zeroing in on the public’s lackadaisical attitude to sustaining our forest cover, national info czar Joe Fabia, used humor to perk up interest on global warming. He likened the state of Philippine forest to his balding pate.
When the audience had their fill of the many how-to’s to save Mother Earth, their attention shifted to a report that a new, habitable planet. One student asked a lady resource person sent by Sec. Sonny Alvarez of the Climate Change Commission, “what measures would you propose to prevent environmental abuse in the new planet?”
Nice thing the lady speaker was smart. She said let’s take good care of Mother Earth first, by the time we’d be able to land on the new planet, we might already be in God’s Planet.
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In spite of the drubbing P-noy’s presidency is getting from his critics, his first 100 days score card got high marks.
The much complained-of turf war among fumbling Cabinet officials was more than compensated by the new government’s good grade in the anti corruption campaign. Stretched to its logical conclusion, this plus ace is expected to buoy hopes in effective governance that would translate to the general public’s well being.
As we posited here time and again, it was achievement enough that we’ve done away with a corrupt administration. Let’s not fall into the extended habit of cynicism and block all opportunities for reforms. We need time to recoup lost ground and to flex our muscles to meet new challenges.
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We received a letter from former Barangay Captain Alfred Dawana, Dagupan City fishpond owners and operators assn. president, who is vacationing in San Francisco, California.
A one centavo-a-year consultant to Mayor Benjie Lim, Alfred or Apring has been pushing for the dredging of the city’s silted river systems to restore its wellness and produce more marine life.
Here’s Apring: “The cleansing of the Agno River was inspirational.
A river dredged is like a surgical bypass done to the heart. The procedure ensures the continuity and restrains the flow of blood thru the arteries to nourish and breath new life to a failed heart. Dredging, likewise, is the process of sucking mud, debris and soil from the floor of the river to deepen the river and encourages the free flow of water from the ocean. This would ensure bountiful harvest for a gainful if not sustainable livelihood for many fishermen whose lives depend largely on cornucopia of the ocean.
Dredging could be an untapped answer to an observable water pollution, flooding that would endanger human and our most precious
Fishing industry. Lastly dredging is the most important alternative to a fledgling fishing economy that nourishes Dagupenos’ lives.”
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