The rain fell again as I write this column, triggering once more this thing that I feel when the weather does that and I am alone. For me, the cleansing process that rain triggers also, in a way, cleanses the self. I feel it when I am by my lonesome -- a loner being left alone as the sound of raindrops on the ground, the pavement and on rooftops drowned the sound of the television show I was viewing.
The weather bureau has been telling us about the phenomenon called El Niño, a hot episode, but for the past few days, especially in the afternoons, the rain has been falling. That is why I have learned to go back to the old days in the mountains where you learn to adjust to whatever the weather offers. Out there, the climate is either sunny or rainy.
We used to stay in a hut standing near the bank of a small river. Then the rain fell and water in the river swelled. The hut was occupied only by us, young city-bred people, who only watched as water started eating up the riverbank and threatened to sweep away the hut’s posts. It was good that our friend, Darius, a young farmer, was there. He watched as the water swelled then moved to prevent the hut from being swept away. It was only then that we city-bred folks followed his lead.
We were “petiburgis” following the lead of a young farmer, who was more of an action man compared to us who were more theoretical. In that instance, action was needed, not theory. And theory without action is empty. That was the time when Darius saved our day, and I haven’t forgotten that.
But back to the rain, this time in the urban areas. It has been years since flash floods were a problem in the city’s streets and yet nothing has changed. I remember when I was still a journalist and there were talks about a need to have a drainage master plan to finally solve flash flooding in the metro. After decades, no drainage master plan has surfaced and we face the same problem -- even after we elected several mayors already.
That is why I have learned to adjust. When it rains, I wait until the rain stops and the flood begins to recede. I resume doing my daily chores only after that. One time, I went to Mandaue City and was in the jeepney when rain poured. I had to stop near the SunStar building and stayed in the office until the water on the streets subsided after the rain stopped. It was only then that I went home.
I know, I know. We do have a government but that government can’t be relied upon to solve age-old problems like drainage. The mayor in Cebu City is, I think, an engineer, but even he could not solve the problem brought about by our lack of urban planning. I have seen movies that show big drainage systems in major cities abroad. Some homeless folks even live in these drainage systems. That is why flash flooding is not a problem in these major cities.
One time, I saw a barangay worker trying to clean up a drainage system that got clogged up with garbage and mud in Barangay Inayawan. The drainage canal was so small that it was only about a foot deep from the surface of the road. Pathetic.