BY ROMMEL YNION
IF there was one frustration I had during the last elections, it was the fact that my opponent, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, refused to face me in a debate. For had he done so, we would have tackled issues that could have enlightened the populace.
One of the issues that could have been the focus of the debate was the floods which apparently weighed down on us lately. And in the thick of it all, our city government can only put the blame on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and climate change. Now, does this make sense?
Plainly and simply, let us now dissect this issue for the next 10 minutes or so, depending on how fast you will read this particular column.
First, we now have floods in Iloilo City because our city government has made it a wetland. Yes, that is correct. Matter-of-factly, we, Ilonggos, are now living in a wetland because in the absence of the natural wetland that we obliterated, we now live in a man-made wet land. But that is going ahead of the story.
Let us take this one step at a time.
Now, what is a wetland? To simplify matters, let us just copy from Wikipedia the definition of it and paste it here on this column.
A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, such that it takes on the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem. Primarily, the factor that distinguishes wetlands from other land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation that is adapted to its unique soil conditions. Wetlands consist primarily of hydric soil, which supports aquatic plants.
The water found in wetlands can be saltwater, freshwater, or brackish. Main wetland types include swamps, marshes, bogs and fens. Sub-types include mangrove, carr, pocosin, and varzea.
Wetlands play a number of roles in the environment, principally water purification, flood control, and shoreline stability. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life.
So there. Wikipedia has spoken.
As early as grade school, we were all taught by our science teachers that water seeks its own level. In short, if it cannot seek its own level provided by nature itself, it will seek its level elsewhere because nothing can stop it – yes, from seeking its own level.
And speaking of grade school, we, Ilonggos, know that in the ‘80s, especially those among us who spent our growing up years in those days, we saw with our naked eyes supremely vast wetlands where we even saw aquatic plants and even fished from them.
But sadly, in the years that followed, those wetlands started to disappear in the name of economic progress and lately, beautification. Now turned into our diversion road both sides of which have now become commercial areas – not to mention the Esplanade that obliterated whatever is left of it – the wetland is now officially gone.
And with the wetland gone, where will water go especially when the tide rises? Common sense dictates that in this particular case, water will seek its own level. And sadly, it has now found its “level” in our city itself.
As Wikipedia said, wetlands play the role of controlling floods by allowing water from the river to spill over into it during rainstorms and, as we say in the vernacular, high tides.
And because in the name of progress and beautification, even the last remaining endangered part of our wetland has been transformed into the Esplanade, the widening of the diversion road which boasts, by the way, of a bike lane and ornamental plants, water now has found a man-made wetland in the heart of our city.
This is just the truth and nothing but the truth.
Let me now urge the city government to study the science of wetlands.
And, maybe, they can take a closer look at Washington DC which is the seat of the American government. Yes, even in the most powerful city of the world where the command center of the world’s only remaining superpower stands, they respect their wetlands!
Look at the Potomac River and the wetlands around it. Why didn’t Uncle Sam turn those wetlands into esplanades and commercial centers? It is because they know science which guides them in whatever they do.
What would have happened had the wetlands in Washington DC been turned into commercial centers, diversion roads and esplanades? Your guess is as good as mine. Had that been the case, then we would have seen Barack Obama paddling his own canoe around the Washington Memorial every time floods inundate the White House!
But we, Ilonggos, don’t have any respect for science. We just want the gung-ho approach. And as long as there is money to be made out of projects kuno, we just do it regardless of whether they violate scientific principles or not.
If there is something that our mayor said that made sense, it was his appeal to all and sundry that we just help one another. That is true! There is no use blaming one another.
Let us just help our mayor understand the situation and roll up our sleeves and buckle down to working with him in making Iloilo City a more progressive city.
And our parting shot to our beloved mayor: Please consult science first before you blame floods on other things again. If you do, I am sure it will make you a more sensible human being. For only clear thinking can help us address this particular issue.
As it is right now, science cannot offer any solution to this problem. How can we defy the immutable principle that water seeks its own level? Nobody can defy that. Even if we build more drainage systems, we still cannot solve it because a little below sea level, Iloilo City has become the natural destination of floodwater in the absence of the wetlands.
Water from our drainage systems still cannot exit into the Iloilo River especially when rainstorm and high tide happen to coincide again. In short, unless another “racket” scientist comes along to offer a panacea to this predicament, we cannot do anything but pray for our salvation./PN
