When Gina Lopez burst on the scene like some sort of environmental berserker, quite a few people applauded her passion and New Age enthusiasm. Keen watchers of the insider game in government viewed it as an interesting example of good cop, bad cop. A zealot can always be neutralized by the bureaucracy, as she quickly found out when the Executive Secretary, in typical bureaucratic style, blandly put the implementation of some of her decisions on hold.
… The ability of government and humanitarian organizations to deliver aid to areas devastated by Yolanda is hampered by decades – if not generations – of economic underdevelopment brought about by a multitude of factors. It’s a wound that cuts to almost everything from literacy to education to employment to housing to disposable income to disaster preparedness. It’s a wound cut by the knives of political patronage, dependency, backward policy, and the perpetuation of top-down development that does little – if not nothing – for the poor.
These days, social media is a hotbed for criticisms against President Aquino for not doing enough. As President, he is not blameless. He should be at the forefront of the reforms in policy and redistributing resources in Eastern Visayas, in particular. But generations of underdevelopment and poverty can be pinned down not only to him, but to every President, Vice President, Senator, and Representative who has ignored the imperative to prepare the most vulnerable people in the country for the worst through a national plan and execution for sustainable development.
Posted by Ipat G. Luna on Facebook
15 Nov around 10 pm
Look Yolanda in the face and tell us you will still reclaim 26,000 hectares of Manila Bay. Even before she came, “In a span of only 20 years, the country has seen its sea levels increase at three times the rate of the rest of the world – one of the many reasons why the country is extremely vulnerable to climate change.”
1. Suspend all reclamations in Manila Bay.
2. Change PRA’s mandate, make it the Philippine Rehabilitation Authority.
3. Legislate a presumption against reclamation, that can only be overturned by an overriding public need.
4. Require genuine alternatives in all reclamations going through our EIA system, specifically that of developing instead the inner cities into diverse neighborhoods that accommodate the rich and poor alike in decent, climate-resilient and “green” housing.
And lastly, let’s vote with our precious pesos — LET’S NOT BUY PROPERTY in newly reclaimed land in Manila Bay. They may only be speculating and even if they’re not, think of liquefaction and storm surges.