FOR two days the entire country and neighboring countries have their attention glued to the ongoing eruption of Taal volcano and its socio-economic and environmental impact on several provinces.
Although this is less damaging than the Pinatubo eruption almost three decades ago, at least for now, I hope it won’t worsen. Taal’s latest eruption exposed the flaws and weaknesses of the government especially the local government units (LGUs) to manage the disaster risks.
Of course, disaster risks with this magnitude is not easy to handle. But good disaster management could significantly reduce the risks.
It is a long established fact that the provinces of Calabarzon and other neighboring provinces under Bicol region, Region IVa, Central Luzon and few islands under Visayas region are within the striking range of few major natural hazard factors, among them active volcanos, earthquake faults, landslides and flood prone areas, fires, and tsunami exposure.
One huge fire, volcanic eruption, massive floods, or deadly earthquake could wipe out this entire territory.
The risks posed by these hazards are tremendous and could alter the face of a territory, community or nation, but when any of these is going to strike is hard to pre-determine, not even by the advancement in our technologies.
Since we can’t just rid of them, we have to learn to live with them. And the best way is to integrate all these potential disaster risks and the climate change patterns into the development planning system of every LGU to reduce the hazards and vulnerabilities.
All LGUs especially in high disaster risk areas like the NCR and Calabarzon, must identify their respective hazards and vulnerabilities, project the scenarios in the next 25 to 50 years or more, and make the necessary strategic and short term plans in terms of land use assignments, or which areas to protect, to preserve or conserve, to develop, to establish basic production, to set up settlements, to erect structures and institutions, and many more.
Plans should neither be short term nor piece meal nor reactive to the dictates of greedy real estate developers and big business corporations.
Plans should be government-led not corporate market-driven. Plans should be adaptive to the disaster risks assessment and climate change patterns of the area, its land use patterns and assignments, and match them with the needs of the government, the demands of its present and future generations.
Appropriate funds and logistics should be allocated according to this planning system, and not or never to suit the selfish desires and vested interests of few corporations, politicians and oligarchs.
More important, all plans should be drawn, strategized, and supported by all stakeholders to ensure that their implementation delivers the envisioned results.
When all the hazards and vulnerabilities are matched by higher capacities with passionate seal of the local government and its people, then chances are that the disaster risks from all types of hazards, nature-driven or human-induced will be greatly reduced.
As our world is pillaged unabatedly by the ravenous global capitalist corporations in cahoots with politicians and local political oligarchs, it is our greater task to organize and empower our communities, re-engineer local government units and its systems, and chart a development path which is people-oriented, ecologically-adaptive, and democratically driven.
This is the only way. This is the best formula to put an end to the destruction of our beautiful planet.