By Leonardo Micua

 

NOT many people knew that the high tide that hit Dagupan in mid mornings of August 10 and 11 was influenced by a cosmic phenomenon called “King Tides” felt not only in all the coastal areas in the Philippines but in the whole world without exception.

Thanks to Dr. Westly Rosario, former center chief of the Dagupan-based National Integrated Fisheries Technology and Development Center,  for posting on his Facebook that every year, there are two days of King Tides that occur, and this year, they were scheduled on August 10 and 11.

Dr. Rosario, our good friend, directed his readers to navigate to seagrant.soest.hawaii.edu which we did, and where we found more information about King Tides.

According to the website, King Tides occur when the moon is at its closest point to the Earth in its monthly orbit, that is why the gravitational pull is stronger. California Sea Grant, which we found on Google, calls it a cosmic phenomenon.

Another explanation about this phenomenon is when the sun, the moon and the Earth are in alignment, their individual gravitational pulls work together producing the highest tides of the year, the King Tides.

King Tides put many of our roads in Dagupan submerged under water, causing many vehicles to move at a snail’s pace.  The height of tides was measured at 1.8 meter at 8:49 a.m. on August 10 and 1.9 meter at 9:59 a.m. on August 11.

The website seagrant.soest.hawaii.edu said the impact of King Tides includes coastal flooding and inundation in coastal areas, can have devastating consequences for coastal inhabitants, particularly when combined with extreme weather. Luckily, there were only brief rain showers when this phenomenon hit us for two days.

But in Seoul, South Korea, the big flood caused by prolonged monsoon rains became more devastating with the occurrence of two days of King Tides.

But lo and behold, after just two to three hours, the tidal water that submerged most of our roads had subsided and retreated back to the sea even faster than before when low tide came.

This all meant that our drainage canals, that were effectively unclogged by the city’s Vactron machine worked according to expectation, and after the Pantal River was partially cleared of water lily allowed to thrive over the years.

Hopefully, no politician will ever make the mistake of using the King Tides as another political weapon because that would make them look ignorant.

I can only pity our kabaleyans in many low-lying areas of Dagupan when the tides were at their highest as a result of that natural phenomenon. They had to move their belongings hurriedly to higher parts in their houses!

I recall the predicament of our chief photographer Willie Lomibao whose woes never end each time high tide occurs and flood waters enter his home. He finds himself constantly moving his belongings up and down.

I wonder what could have been the situation today for residents of Barangay Tapuac after Eternal Gardens backfilled a vast track of fishpond land near their area without the imprimatur from the Sangguniang Panlungsod, but which was only given when the new majority in the SP took over.

Imagine the impact of King Tides after the exit to the river is completely blocked by a memorial park project expansion.

*          *          *          *

After lifting the resolution that declared PSU president Dexter Buted as personal non grata in Pangasinan, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan extended the state-run university another favor by allowing the PSU’s students to use the facilities of the Narciso Ramos Sports Center in Lingayen. 

According to Vice Governor Mark  Lambino, proponent of the resolution allowing PSU students to avail of the facilities of NRSCC, this will be in exchange for the various services that would be extended by the university to the provincial government, particularly, to its workers and people. 

As far as I can remember, Mr. Buted already made a courtesy call on Governor Mon-Mon Guico and Vice Gov Lambino but has yet to make a call on the SP whose 9th session declared him persona non grata.

His call would be a perfect opportunity for him cement a better relationship with the SP and to outline a partnership between the province and PSU on many professional aspects that would be beneficial to both the province and PSU.

Has Pangasinan become too accommodating to the PSU this time, that without Buted’s appearance, SP can pass resolutions in his and PSU’s favor? This is something he did not enjoy during the past provincial administration. 

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments