Mariano Carrasco THIS prolonged drought which the weathermen have predicted so well has indeed caused so much social and economic pain, hunger, and misery. The farmers’ blockade of the national highway at Kidapawan inevitably caused a clash between them and the police forces, resulting in deaths and injuries to so many on both sides We are not sure if the government forces had really exhausted all peaceful options before resorting to violent measures. The leading theologian, St. Augustine, the patron saint of Cagayan de Oro, has laid down the three conditions which would morally justify violence: 1. There are no other peaceful options, 2. The violent approach is proportionate to the situation, and 3. The civilian population would not be endangered. These preconditions or prerequisite before violent measures can be undertaken, could well be used for the benefit of the government forces, but then, it can also be used to justify the road blockade by farmers, and even the use of violence in an armed rebellion.
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The grasses and vegetation have all dried up in this prolonged drought. The roots of the grasses and other vegetation have decayed and have become part of the soil. They have lost their force, their capacity to hold the soil under the ground. The grasses and the soil can no longer hold back rainwater like a sponge. If and when torrential rains come by June, rainwater could easily rush down the hills and mountains around the city and easily cause floods and the rivers could overflow. Lives could be in danger. We are not sure yet if the dikes will hold and prevent an overflow.  If the soil or ground under the dikes have not be concreted and supported well, they could give way to the overwhelming force of the floods. Among the legislative measures that should be enacted, and which my wife, Atty. Evangeline T. Carrasco would propose as a bill if elected to Congress, is a mandatory law requiring all subdivisions and houses located in the uplands to provide for concrete catchbasins for run-off rainwater, and a law requiring that portions of the subdivisions or backyards in the uplands or hills should be left unconcreted and planted to allow rainwater to seep through the ground. This would benefit everybody and prevent floods in the lowlands. The catchbasin water could well be used to water the plants, flush comfort rooms and clean the garage. Of course, the first bill she would file, if she wins, is a law whereby government will guarantee payment of the deposit required by private hospitals in emergency cases for indigents or poor individuals, even up to ten or fifteen thousand pesos only. If all the indigents in emergency situations will queue or line up in the government hospitals, many will die waiting to be operated on or attended to. This should even benefit rich clients who are brought to the emergency rooms of private hospitals and whose wallets or IDs might be missing or might have been stolen.  (Mariano B. Carrasco is a Cagayan de Oro-based lawyer.)