As I write this, the flood in my space has not but receded. Fortunately, we now have electrical energy and sufficient assets to final us for possibly one other week. However so many individuals have been stranded proper exterior—ready for the waters to go down to allow them to see their households once more and relaxation.
My father has not been in a position to come house, and so, he has been away from us with out further garments. He has not correctly rested. Not too long ago, our space was featured within the information as being “mala-waterworld.” I do not need a touch upon whether or not or not it’s delicate to have such a clickbaity—however true—headline, besides to say that this isn’t how supposedly liveable areas must be.
I forgot who instructed me this, or the place I first learn it (maybe on the quilt of Bino Realuyo’s novel), however somebody as soon as remarked that the Philippines is an “umbrella nation.” In spite of everything, our climate is normally simply both sunny or wet. However when folks’s belongings are submerged in flood, when of us danger leptospirosis and different risks as they wade by way of water, when employees danger not getting paid due to their lack of ability to work…it’s a mistake to suppose that that is simply how issues are, and that we must always simply bear it.
What number of extra volunteering efforts do we’d like till we understand that the problem is just not actually the shortage of prepared helpers—however extra so the inconvenient and unintuitive programs we’re pressured to navigate in our every day lives?
READ: Caring for nature must be frequent sense
Again to fundamentals
Steadily flooded streets are normally constructed on pure waterways, and it’s true that early civilizations have at all times constructed round flowing rivers. But in addition, within the title of “progress,” we now have been bulldozing the mountains that break typhoons, shaving off the bushes that shield us from landslides, and polluting the rivers and canals that, finally, overflow into our streets. There have to be a greater approach to stay with nature, contemplating the Philippines is among the world’s most biodiverse areas!
Our ancestors—and plenty of indigenous teams immediately—have conventional practices which can be sustainable. In different phrases, they normally take solely what they want from nature—sufficient to maintain life. What does it actually imply to “thrive” on this planet? Perhaps, to the money-minded, it means extra than simply consolation: it means luxurious, standing, and exclusivity. For many of us, nonetheless, it’s a lot less complicated: good well being, a cheerful household, and a way of function in life.
However do we actually have to carve out the aspect of a mountain for that?
We’re intelligent sufficient to think about a system that works with nature, that anticipates its moods, and that builds round it. I place confidence in this as a result of our personal ancestors have completed it, indigenous communities all over the world have been doing it for generations, and technologically and economically superior areas internationally are already doing it—although more often than not, their strategies resemble indigenous methods).
READ: Will the ‘actual’ Filipino please rise up?
You will need to revisit these helpful strategies—however we should additionally actually perceive their mindset about nature: the care and reciprocity they’ve with the world. We are able to be taught extra particular approaches in collaboration with indigenous leaders and communities, who’ve additionally been on the forefront of environmental activism (one thing that’s apparently a really, very harmful life within the Philippines).
So, when these in energy applaud our “resilience” and diskarte regardless of the catastrophic impact of tropical storms, what they’re actually applauding is our potential to adapt to the harm they triggered. It’s as if to say, “See? Issues usually are not so dangerous. In spite of everything, you’re surviving!” It’s a form of propaganda that blames nature for his or her sins and lack of foresight. Nature solely does what it’s meant to do. It isn’t one thing we are able to cause with or condemn in courts of legislation.
However who designs our city areas, and why are they not straightforward (or protected) to maneuver round in? Who builds and maintains our roads, and why are they at all times below building? We already know we’re liable to flooding—however who’s answerable for our flood management measures? Who advantages from not fixing any of those points? These are necessary questions we are able to begin with, and, extra importantly, reply first.
