Time to work together

Ben Contreras

WAKING up to a showering Saturday morning gave me the feeling of another day going to waste. One cannot expect to make business with that kind of weather. On second thought, perhaps we can. Thanks to modern technology–cellphones.

It was 8 am and the rain became heavier. I thought that if it resulted in floods again, then expect another round of fingerpointing.

Councilor Bong Lao posted a statement on Facebook, putting part of the blame on Limketkai center. Whatever the Limketkai group did in the past, I am almost certain that it was during the time when the city council already had Lao as a member. Never mind if he abstained, but there were other measures that he either voted for or pretended not to know.

Our flood problem will not be solved with the blame game. It is time to work together, and I mean, seriously. The government does its part by launching a serious tree-planting in the uplands and we, the citizens, obey our laws on garbage disposal, and proper living like not putting anything (shanties/houses) along waterways and turning these into areas for waste disposal.

Government employees and officials found not doing their job should be held accountable and punished. Citizens violating our laws should be dealt with based on what the law says on violations.

DPWH has been accused of project failure, that their designs were erroneous, not to mention corruption. Take for instance the work on the big drain along the highway covering that portion of RER subdivision’s main gate. The last flood overflowed and inundated several homes nearby.

Accordingly, the waterflow from the big drain didn’t reach the river but stopped somewhere else. Thus, when it absorbed a huge volume of floodwater that reached a smaller drain, water overflowed. So, the excess water flowed down into the subdivision.

If the city government contemplates on undertaking an urban drainage masterplan, please start with the basic fact and reality that the city proper we have learned to recognize for more than a century is below sea level. No amount of tunnels, subterranean or not, can prevent flooding in areas that are below sea level. Mitigations are good only if everyone, every government office, cooperates.

As far as I know, contributing factors to flooding still continue in the city. Agencies that are tasked to supervise and regulate such activities continue to be remiss in their duties. What is it about greed and money? Whatever you get through other means than legal, nature will take them back with a vengeance.

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Two parties have signified to talk to me about irregularities in the purchase of land for different purposes. Until such time when they show me clear evidence, the details would be withheld by me.

Of course, if true, the brazenness is indeed appalling, not just because the acts are shameful but also because those who probably know about it opted to keep silent. Why? Did these people benefit from these anomalous transactions?

They never had it so good, as the old saying goes. Just take a look at how they have become, physically and financially. Indeed, they never had it so good. Watch out for karma to work.