It is raining nonstop in this cold afternoon here in the Philippine capital of Manila. The clock reads 6:27 pm, the thermometer, 26 degrees Celsius, below the usual temperature of 39 degrees. The sun, usually glistening in this Southeast Asian country, has not been seen the last couple of days.
But I shouldn’t be complaining. Elsewhere, right this very minute, in some parts of this place we all call home, people are buried in flood because of nonstop rains.
There is flood because of the poor waste disposal system implemented by the government for decades now and people who do not do anything about it.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the central government office that acts on disasters and calamities, the death toll from floods in the southern parts of the Philippines has risen to 57 while 32 others remained missing.
The statistics are stark and telling. According to the government disaster office, as reported inwww.gmanews.tv, the floods and landslides have affected at least 323,149 families or 1,650,754 people in 1,823 villages in 162 towns and 17 cities in 25 provinces around the country.
Furthermore, it also said in the report that “some 12,523 families or 61,054 people are housed in 74 evacuation centers. At least 395 houses were destroyed while 1,902 were damaged.”
Needless, to say, there is a need for the government to act and put in place long-term solutions.
The real solutions include strictly implementing proper waste disposal systems and not just acting on the matter only after every time a tragedy strikes.
Suggestions anyone? What can my government do? Let’s all think about it.
