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Thursday, December 09, 2004
Wenceslao: Moalboal water woes
By Bong O. Wenceslao
I received a phone call last week from Richard Sungcad, general manager of the beleaguered Moalboal Water District (MWD). Sungcad, a neighbor in my old place in Sitio Kawayan, Sambag 2, Cebu City when he was still a student, sounded emotional, and I could not blame him. Indeed, the Moalboal water issue has become one jumbled mess.
I agree that there should be more objectivity there and less emotionalism—or politicking. The danger is when the outbreak of gastroenteritis will be used by people with dubious intentions, like taking over the water system. The objectivity there is in establishing a verified link between the outbreak of the disease and MWD’s service.
In a press statement Sungcad issued later, he pointed out that at the same period of the Moalboal gastroenteritis outbreak, two died in Pinamungahan town of “acute infectious diarrhea and 25 patients were admitted to the town’s hospitals.” So why did media zero in on Moalboal only, Sungcad asked. That is something worth noting.
But first off, I think the shift in the coverage happened when government officials jumped into the fray. Maybe, Gov. Gwen Garcia and Moalboal town officials merely wanted to get to the bottom of the gastroenteritis outbreak, but in doing so, they may have unfairly demonized MWD—with some media people following their lead.
My question is, was the link between the gastroenteritis outbreak and MWD’s service firmly established? Does the photo of a busted or rusty pipe mean all MWD pipes are busted or rusty? Did water tests clearly show that water from the pipes were contaminated and by what organisms? How thorough was the probe on MWD’s service?
Then there was that point about misplaced priorities, with MWD constructing an office building costing over P3 million. But did those who raised the matter look into how much MWD spent to improve its services—if only for comparison purposes? Or considered the savings that may be derived in the long run from the new building?
There is no question about the need to prevent a repeat of the gastroenteritis outbreak in Moalboal. But that can only be achieved if the causes of the outbreak are objectively, even scientifically, pinpointed. Demonizing one sector when all the details needed are not yet in is simply not the way to go here.
TEXTREAX. From Chito F: “We are like pencils. The best part of us is inside. We make marks as we touch others’ lives. We make mistakes; we erase. But we become better as we are sharpened.”
(khanwens@yahoo.com/ 0927-4912362)
(December 9, 2004 issue)
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