“RA 6716 provides for the construction of water wells, rainwater collectors, development of springs and rehabilitation of existing water wells in all barangays in the Philippines”
by Ducky Paredes
When will we ever learn? Does the fact that we have had super-typhoon after super-typhoon coming our way taught us anything or are we so concerned with survival that we Pinoys will simply close our eyes to our own responsibility for Climate Change and simply rant and rave at the failures of this or that government entity or official?
Seeing that Pagasa is blaming everything on its lack of a Doppler radar for its failure to predict the amount of rain that storm clouds carry, I remember that, when I was living in Medina, a small town in Misamis Oriental, I would ask the fishermen what the weather would be the next day and they had a better record than Pagasa in weather-forecasting.
They looked for familiar signs – a bird flying too low, the wind carrying a particular smell and so on – and they would mostly be right.
I doubt that, despite our uncaring attitude about our surroundings that one absolutely needs a Doppler to be able to predict the amount of water that will be coming into a dam in the next four hours so that the floodgates can be half-open to avoid sending off a killer wave later in the day that will put a town’s population in danger.
Before all the hi-tech instruments, it was just a matter of looking outside to see that the rains will be heavy. Clearly, we have abused the planet by indiscriminately throwing garbage, by relentlessly cutting down forests, by polluting our atmosphere and committing countless other sins to which we are now being held accountable.
I agree with the Bishop of Albay who published a full page ad with a prayer admitting to God all our sins and putting ourselves at His mercy. Clearly, the Bicolanos having had more than their fair share of foul weather know how helpless we are against Climate Change.
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Senator Loren Legarda has called for the strict implementation of the law mandating the collection of rainwater in all barangays as a way to prevent flooding and ensure the continuous provision of clean water during dry seasons.
Says Loren: “If even half of the barangays in Manila had rainwater collection systems in place, there would be virtually no flooding during rainy seasons. And during dry seasons, we would have enough water to distribute despite the dropping water tables that cause problems in summer.”
RA 6716 provides for the construction of water wells, rainwater collectors, development of springs and rehabilitation of existing water wells in all barangays in the Philippines. A Barangay Waterworks and Sanitation Association shall be formed to operate and maintain the rainwater collection facilities. A rainwater collection facility has the following components: catchment, treatment and distribution. Rainwater is collected in rooftops, and then purified in a central treatment system to be pumped, finally, to various water lines.
Says our Climate Change doyenne: ”We don’t even have to make a new law. We just have to implement an existing one. This 20-year old law solves two problems at once: flooding and water shortages..
“Rainwater is a clean and costless source of water. A rain water collection system is not that expensive to install and once the initial investment is recouped everything is free.”
Metro Manila is one of nine major cities identified as “water-critical” in a study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The other cities are Metro Cebu, Davao, Baguio, Angeles, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga.
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My cousin, Joey Paredes Leviste has announced the 4th Dr. Jose P. Leviste, Sr. Inter-School Chess Cup on 8 November 2009.
A project of the Ateneo Grade School, High School and Collegiate Chess Teams under the direction of Grandmaster Candidate Idelfonso Datu, this all-student non-master chess tournament will be held at the Ateneo Grade School Cafeteria inside the Ateneo De Manila University Campus in Katipunan, Quezon City.
Interested students will play under the six-round Swiss System with an active time control of 25 minutes per player. The tournament will have two categories: Grade School and High School Division.
At stake are cash prizes and trophies for the top finishers in each division. The champion will receive P5,000 plus a trophy for both divisions while the 1st runner up will receive P3,000 plus a trophy. The third placer will get P2,000 plus a trophy and the fourth ranked individuals shall receive P1,000.00 plus a medal.
Top grade 1 and Top grade 2 finishers will also receive a cash prize of P500 and a gold medal each.
The annual tourney is in honor of the memory of Ateneo alumnus Dr. Jose P. Leviste Sr. (HS ’33, AA ’35), the father of Jose P. Leviste Jr. (GS ‘57, HS ‘61, AB ‘65) and the grandfather of Jose D. Leviste III (AB 2001).
The following corporate sponsors support the tournament: Constellation Energy Corporation, Italpinas Eco-Design and Development Corporation, Grand Placement Inc. and Fonemed Asia Pacific Inc., with the endorsement of Richard Palou, University Athletics Director of the Ateneo de Manila University.
This year, the Leviste family has committed to match the registration fees to be garnered during the event, with an equivalent donation to the Ateneo De Manila Typhoon Ondoy Task Force.
Registration is P300 per participant. Interested individuals may register at the Ateneo University Athletics Office located at the 2nd floor of the Blue Eagle Gym. Participants are requested to present their most recent school ID upon registration. For inquiries, please call 4266001 loc. 4191 to 4195 or you may text (0922) 8837131 or (0919) 3580444.
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We have a letter: “Even assuming the government manages to remove all the squatters in our waterways, that will mean only a temporary relief. There will be a next wave of squatters who will settle in these forbidden zones.
“You find squatters only in impoverished third world countries. The squatters in the shanty towns of Metro Manila, in Djakarta , Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro etc. all come from one source – the impoverished rural areas.
“The only way to stop them is to develop the rural areas coupled with effective population control measures. So long as there is poverty in the rural areas there will be an unending stream of squatters.
We have seen in our country what has happened in the past. In the fifties we relocated all the squatters in Metro Manila to Bago Bantay , QC Several years later we did the same thing again and relocated squatters to Sapang Palay, Bulacan and later on to Dasmarinas, Cavite . This did not end the squatter problem. A fresh wave of squatters who are now occupying the waterways took over. So we need an integrated national development program to settle the squatting problem.” – Hermie Cruz
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hvp 10.22.09
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