With the onset of the El Niño phenomenon, the ongoing war in Ukraine, the aggressive posture of China against Taiwan and against our exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea, and the rather political unrest in the USA brought about by the impending criminal charging of former president Donald Trump, I could only look up and ask the Lord God, “What’s ahead of us this year?”
Under the Chinese Zodiac, we are living in the Year of the Rabbit that represents hope and life for a long time.
We only have wet and dry seasons in the country and these can be sometimes extreme.
With the inception of the hot dry season, meteorologist Alfredo F. Quiblat predicted a high likelihood of the El Niño phenomenon happening that could affect the supply of water. That’s why, he advised the public to efficiently use water.
Metro Manila water suppliers have already given their consumers notice that water supply will be low in the coming days.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has ordered a host of measures to secure the water supply for farms and food producers.
Pardon my ignorance, but I am not aware of a Cebu City ordinance that penalizes the wastage of water by individuals or industries during the time of a water scarcity.
I could only wish our national and local government officials had prepared for the onset of the hot dry season that signals the El Niño phenomenon that could deplete the supply of water that has a domino effect on everything.
We don’t want a repeat of the disgusting lethargic action of the government on the oil spill in Mindoro that has already spread to nearby provinces that has affected the livelihood of fishermen and damaged the marine life.
Watching the news about the United States every night, I simply cannot believe that the US, supposedly the model of universal democracy, is no longer the same country that I used to know before the Trump era.
The Maga (Make America Great Again) Republicans that Trump organized when he ran for president still support his ambition to return to the White House in the next presidential elections. The freedom of speech is much abused in the US, a country of milk and honey.
With the current political turmoil in the US, it would simply be awkward for President Joe Biden to present the US to the world as the advocate of world order and democracy.
What is surprising is the deafening silence of former leaders of the Republicans at how Trump is running the Grand Old Party. A friend told me that Biden only won because most Republicans and conservatives wanted to do away with Trump.
On the other hand, the agreement that Russia President Vladimir Putin and China President Xi Jinping signed has alarmed US officials because it signals the unity of Russia and China against America. What alarmed, if not panicked (?), the Biden administration most is the possibility that Russia will supply China with uranium, which is needed in the production of nuclear weapons.
The US Department of Defense predicts China will have 1,500 nuclear heads by 2035 (Nikkei Asia).
What would happen if super power countries have nuclear warheads? End of the World?
It is a fact that the US already has its own nuclear warheads even during the time of the cold war with the USSR. But the alarm expressed by the Biden administration could only mean that the US, because of too much politics, now lags behind China in nuclear development.
Indeed, a reason to be anxious.