The Flood, part 2

The talks of a new ‘flood’ in Central Mindanao are again percolating. All the signs point to an impeding disaster.  The rainy season has come with practically a nightly downpour. The volume of water lilies floating in the major rivers is becoming ominous, by the day. And practically all work in the river system of Cotabato to institute flood control has stopped and nothing at all has been accomplished since the last flood in June 2011. The Rio Grande de Mindanao and all its tributaries remain unattended for the last two years. The only work done (and this was still the accomplishment of the previous administration) was the establishment of a Task Force for the Cotabato RIVER Basin and a study on what to do in the immediate, short term and long term to control flooding in the plains of Central Mindanao.   But with the new administration that has taken over since July 2010, the only work done under the banner of ‘matuwid na daan’ is to abolish the said Task Force and for whatever reason even the fledgling attempts to dredge the mouth of the mighty river (Bucana) has also stopped.  In a similar mysterious way, the work on widening the existing outlet of the Simuay River towards the Bucana also stopped seemingly on the controversy over the price for the ‘right of way’. With the onset of the rainy season, the only recourse left for the people of Central Mindanao is to bend their knees in prayers since the government’s inaction for nearly two years on the river systems is appalling, to say the least. The water level is now rising on both ends (from the sea during high tide and from the mountains during the heavy downpour). The water lilies begin to clog the river system again. The habits of people dumping their waste into the river continue unabated.  The heavy siltation of the river systems is unattended while the people and government (LGUs and the National) continue to debate and wrangle on issues of river control. No doubt, a disaster (part 2) is looming in the horizon.  It is not the question whether it would come or not, it is simply the question WHEN it would come! While ‘waiting’ for the flood (part 2) to come, the people are being lulled or entertained with many side shows.  First, we have been entertained with the impeachment trial of CJ Corona for more than five months. Second, we have been kept busy with the ARMM Reforms beginning with the cancellation of the elections in 2011 to the appointment of OIC’s and now moving on with the actual reforms in the ARMM bureaucracy.  Third, we are now beginning to feel the election fever notwithstanding the mid-term elections are still almost a year away - scheduled in May 2013. The fear that begins to dawn on people is the fact that basic issues and problems are unresolved. First the looming danger from the mighty Rio Grande de Mindanao remains the hanging dagger that threatens their safety, especially for people living in low valleys of the Cotabato empire province. Second, the river threatens not only their homes but also the food on their table and livelihood. The devastation of the flood last year on the crops (especially on palay and corn) has been incalculable.  A repeat of the same misfortune this year would be a catastrophe. Any foreboding low pressure during rainy season in and around Central Mindanao is seen as potential trigger to displacement and destruction.  The respite given by the long dry season is characterized by inaction, to say the worst or no direction/no focus, to say the least. With this scenario, the only remaining recourse is PRAYER that the flooding (part 2) in Central Mindanao would not come.