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[av_heading heading=’Danger’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY OSCAR CRUZ
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February 3, 2018
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ACCORDING to the studies made and findings recorded by the Center for Research on Epidemiology based in Belgium, among the Top 10 disaster-prone countries in the world, the Philippines ranks third – after Vanuatu (first) and Tonga (second).
Bad news or not, there are certain undeniable realities such as the following:
* climate change has slowly and surely become an undeniable truth
* the natural environ especially in the Philippines should be realistically protected
* records stand that the country has already suffered much from natural calamities crowned by the “Yolanda” disaster
* earthquakes of different magnitudes are recently happening more often than before
* Metro Manila in particular has progressively taller buildings rising up one after another – especially in the Bonifacio Global City. What now?
Certain big and relevant questions come to mind: Have the people been sufficiently warned about the reality of climate change?
Have parents accordingly taught their children about the havoc that climate change has already brought and will still bring about in the course of time?
Are the adults actually convinced about not simply the mere possibility but the impending reality of the disasters that go with climate change?
If the answers to these not only relevant but also significant questions are in the negative, then, pitiful Filipinos!
Needless to say, the present and forthcoming governments – supposedly of the people, by the people and for the people – have a truly indispensable role to fulfill in this already precarious present and markedly dangerous future. Some questions thus come to mind:
* Is the present Building Code responsive to the challenges of Climate Change? If not, should not the government have it updated?
* Are rescue teams enough in number, in training and equipment in order to respond to climate change disasters? If not, what is the government doing?
* Has not only the national but also the local government identified the proper places of refuge in case of any natural catastrophe aftermath? If not, why?
* Are schools having proper and serious drills in the event of calamities brought about by climate change? If not, why not duly impose them?
It is not good for the government to see to it that the simple and plain Boy Scout motto, “Be prepared!” be taken seriously by the people in general – precisely in view of the fearsome rating of the Philippines as third of the 10 countries most prone to natural disaster in view of climate change?/PN
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