A WEEK after Typhoon Ompong has gone out of the Philippines’ Area of Responsibility (PAR), its aftermath still dominates the discussions in our communities.
That is understandable because of the magnitude of destruction it left in Northern Luzon, particularly the Cordillera, Ilocos Region and Cagayan Valley.
In the Cordillera, Typhoon Ompong emboldened the DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu, to cancel all small-scale mining operations, allegedly, because of the unregulated destructive effects of this age-old livelihood to the environment and communities downstream like loss of human lives, siltation, and pollution of rivers and natural waterways due to soil erosion and landslides.
To be fair, small-scale mining is one among many livelihood activities that employ thousands of locals and migrants that contribute to the deterioration of our mountain landscapes. Besides, a study of landslides should reveal whether it originated from the top or a tunnel at the foot of the mountain. In most instances, landslides start from natural slits and/or human activities at the mountaintop. Cascading soil debris from the top collects more soil as it moves downwards with flashfloods to create a slide or erosion.
Geological studies should also pinpoint areas where constant soil movement are occurring in a mineral-rich region from a tectonic activity and other natural causes, like those we find in several areas of the region where mining has not been and is not a livelihood activity presently.
Still, small-scale mining needs further upgrade to become more responsible in paying its share of taxes and acceptable to people. The typhoon has devastated our agriculture, damaging billions worth of crops and infrastructures like paddies, irrigation canals, barns and storage facilities, among others.
A week after Ompong, people that were taken and buried under by an eroded mountain slope in Ucab, Itogon, Benguet, have yet to be recovered, in spite of the help extended by more than a thousand registered volunteers on a daily basis.
Our roads have yet to be opened. In particular, the town of Kabayan, Benguet remain isolated when we visited the nearby town of Bokod, last September 21. The road to Bakun via Gambang barangay is still closed. Our roads and main highways into the interior that were punched through to get people and food supplies moving to and from the interior communities remain hazardous to life and limb. They await widening and full clearing.
Come to think of it, today, we do not deal with one or two road slides every time a typhoon visit us, but multiple and series of slides and washouts, whether mining is being done in the area or not.
This week, power blackouts have been regularly occurring since Typhoon Ompong visited us. It seems to me, our power services are readily affected during every typhoon occurrence, disrupting in the process work in all businesses, government and private service sectors, water supply, and household lighting and other needs. Upgrading power services must not continue with changing poles and hanging wires. To be climate resilient, power should be delivered like the way the water district distributes water to every home through underground pipes.
In all, Typhoon Ompong left us thinking and feeling depressed. This should not be happening. In one way or another, Ompong’s destructions limit us in our corner of these mountains.
I do not wish to highlight my thoughts on Super Typhoon Ompong and its impact on our lives as a cynic or to depress you further. In fact, quite the opposite is true. I say it, hopefully, to get us back on our feet, to find meaning from this experience and move on as stronger and better people.
Life is becoming difficult for us. These days, the impacts of weather disturbances to our individual and community life are meaner and stronger with climate change and other human-related activities.
With a global population of 7.6 billion, there are more people competing for the Earth’s limited resources today. One way or another, each one of us – how we live and our actions - affects the environment, the availability of food, water, and other consumable resources in a number of ways.
In Bobok-bisal, where we were last Friday, I learned that the thickly pine-clad environment is a second growth forest. The reforestation of the area was jointly undertaken by the local folks, the local government unit (LGU) of Bokod, and the Bobok sawmill. They demonstrated that we can do something good that will not only last our lifetime but that of our future generations.
To sustain this environment-conscious community, the CHARMP2 supported the construction of their farm-to-market roads, waterworks, and food paths, reforestation and livelihood projects. I hope that they will succeed in coffee production under the pine trees. Even if they are harvesting coffee beans under the pine now, they still need organizational strengthening, marketing and technical assistance in managing their coffee trees.
I should be somewhere else, were it not for this condition that I am in that limits my movement and actions. With the blackout that came this noon, I went back to radio for entertainment and news. Then the rain showers came and I drowsed to sleep.
I may be limited than I would like, but I can yet put the limitation I face each day to good use as a frame to a beautiful portrait of my experiences and everything around me. It is hard and difficult, but with God’s help, I can live each day, and continue to help in transforming our lives into beautiful stories that we can share with others. We must all learn to live responsibly.
Yes, everything in our lives is changing, and the only way to really take in something, to understand and appreciate the joy these changes may yet bring to our individual and community life, is to be there, to be present – rooted in our places and spaces. To be responsible, to learn, and master our environment, not greedily plundering them.
Finally, entrenched in the psyche of Cordillerans, due to our exposure to the difficulties of highland living is how they readily come to the aid of their brothers and sisters in need. We see this demonstrated time and again during calamities.
Among our ancestors, this community practice is not done to share burdens and work during calamities, death, and sufferings but also during the good times when houses and irrigation canals have to be built; and, during harvest and feasts. We hope this will live on. We must be strengthening what is best in our culture rather than losing them.