The lessons from Typhoon ‘Milenyo’ for Pangasinan

PANGASINAN was fortunate that it did not lie on the path of the fury of typhoon ‘Milenyo’. Save for a seemingly threatening typhoon signal no.1, life in the province was as normal as it went.

However, the situation was different in Metro Manila, Southern Luzon and the Visayas as could be gleaned from media reports. There was mayhem and disaster on the ground. Not very many bridges were washed away but more homes were blown away, trees were uprooted and as might have been expected, lives and properties again were lost.

But the most telling aftermath of the typhoon was the prolonged loss of power and water in the disaster stricken areas, not only in Metro Manila but in the provinces as well. At presstime (a week after ‘Milenyo’ exited), a number of households in typhoon stricken areas continue to be in the dark literally and households are already spending more than thrice what they normally spend for water. Cellphone users continued to suffer drop calls and have been unable to send messages.

Nobody can possibly tell for certain how loss of lives and damages to properties can be minimized but that’s precisely why laws are legislated. Except for a ludicrous law seeking to ban typhoons, our government is equipped with enough laws to protect life and property.

There lies the country’s problem in its endless defense against the fury of nature. The government agencies concerned only think of enforcing laws strictly on hindsight, after the fact, after hundreds have died, and after millions in pesos have been lost. The case of the proliferation of the giant billboards in Metro Manila was an accident just waiting to happen, and it did all because the laws were flouted

Learning from the ‘Milenyo’ episode, Pangasinan must reinforce and intensify its campaign against thieves of power and communication cables. Even the installation of streamers should be strictly regulated to the extent of defining how, where and how long the streamers can be strung.

To the credit of the second engineering district, it has been waging a campaign against illegally constructed billboards, strictly enforcing the laws. We hope the other districts will follow its example.

The campaign to conserve water must never be taken for granted at anytime because as many in typhoon stricken areas now realize, had they conserved the saved water in their tanks or drums before the typhoon struck, they would not be without water today.

Lessons, lessons. But when will we ever learn that enforcement of laws is our best protection?

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