Lessons from the Past

With all these disasters and calamities happening lately, I remember that as a schoolkid these pieces of news become part of current events which you must take note of as well.
But speaking of lessons, didn't we all learn something about science and history along the way? Why are we so surprised that we feel betrayed by our environment?

A few years ago, a fellow named Felino Palafox already pointed out the inevitable flooding of some areas near Pasig River and Laguna Lake because time will come, rainwater had nowhere to go. Another science geek named Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo, who is more popularly known for the Pinatubo Volcano "aftermath" studies, also had a research going on land subsidence and worsening floods along northern Manila Bay. The government was duly warned, but changing administrations never had the political will to safeguard the environment and temper urban development with an awareness of nature.

I only have to look to my youth to remember lessons from the past. The area in front of Quezon Institute, where Puregold now stands, use to have a sea of kang-kongs all year round. Yes, it was a virtual swampland and for good reason; that was where water went everytime it rained. Besides Puregold, I now see a mini eco-forest in the frontage of QI. I wonder what it does for residents in the area everytime it rains nowadays...

Having gone to UP Los Banos for university in the late 1980s, I always marveled at the green mountains of Makiling then. By the time I left in 1990, subdivisions were sprouting everywhere in Laguna. Whole mountainsides were carved into by developers for hot spring resorts or residential villages.Trees were chopped off indiscriminately. It came as no surprise when the national highway near Los Banos bayan would have an occasional landslide very now and then.

Now, I am told the municipalities of Rizal and Laguna where I did my undergraduate thesis on "Integrated Farming" are still submerged in knee-deep floods. The areas of Paete, Pangil, Pakil, etc. had the privilege of a lake which naturally irrigated their ricefields with its regular rising tides. It also allowed them to have fishponds as alternate sources of livelihood. Up in the forested hills, the people had fruit-bearing trees for additional income. From Los Banos to Lumban, Laguna Lake has now reclaimed what it rightfully owned.

Up north, Bulacan and Pampanga's flooding was also expected. Regardless of the rivers and dams it hosts, the area has the Candaba Swamp, a historically low-lying area. (My father used to tell us stories of having hid from the Japanese soldiers by staying in the swamps for days on end. For a time, he had us wondering why he hated watermelon and galunggong so much. But he merely replied that it reminded him of his guerilla days in the marshes.)

In Pangasinan, towns whose economies depended on bangus farming, naturally got flooded. Fishponds located on similar marshland areas such as Dagupan, would expectedly overflow with heavy rainfall. Let us not forget that there is also the mighty Agno River, a major tributary which traverses the length of Pangasinan.

Already Lingayen and Dagupan experienced some changes in its topography following the Big Quake in 1991. La Union's coastline itself changed, with the beaches of Bauang, Agoo and San Fernando "shortening", thereby forcing beach resorts and fishing communities to adjust their beach frontages accordingly.

I guess people living in similar situations would now need to do the same thing for themselves. As it is often said, "Nature finds a way", so maybe so should people.