In reclamation, learn from lahar flows
During the public hearing on the proposed Manila Bay Gold Coast Reclamation Project, recounts Kelvin Rodolfo, the proponents pooh-poohed his contention that, judging from the disastrous storm surge that turned much of the Visayas into a shambles in the wake of Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” a reclamation project would be putting much of Manila in peril.
“We’ll build tall, strong buildings that can withstand the storm surge,” the proponents assured.
But Rodolfo, a renowned marine geologist whose studies on “lahar” defined international scientific understanding of this phenomenon and ways to prepare for it, has nothing but contempt for the idea—and for the brazen assurance that buildings can even provide protection against storm surges. And sure enough, the experience of Tacloban City proves that, in the wake of the howling wind and onrushing water triggered by a mighty typhoon, buildings are just as vulnerable as nipa huts and may even increase the destructive power of the tide, mud and debris.
Rodolfo says we should learn from the history of the lahar flows after the Pinatubo and Mayon eruptions. Defying his advice, authorities insisted on building dikes to contain the lahar flows, and when these dikes invariably crumbled, even more people died because the concrete structures made the flows even more deadly. Worse, the dikes gave vulnerable populations a false and tragic assurance of safety. In an article on Rodolfo published in “Philippine Science Letters,” Mahar Lagmay, executive director of Project NOAH, recalls: “It came as no surprise to our field team that all devastated communities on the slopes of Mayon had breached dikes upstream. Kelvin’s unheeded advice more than two decades past caused the 1,266 deaths in the lahar-ravaged barangays…”
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What more if the storm surge hits a reclaimed area?
“Reclamation, by its very nature, is an environmentally invasive activity … altering the natural ecological system of shorelines and coastal areas,” says a position paper prepared by opponents of the reclamation plan.
And it’s not as if we don’t have many lessons to learn from. The Dagatdagatan housing development in Navotas, for instance, has ended up causing severe flooding in Navotas and Malabon, some areas of which have become perennially flooded, because it lengthened the distance that flood waters have to travel to drain out to the sea. And if the huge Gold Coast reclamation project pushes through, opponents say, “it is more likely that in the near future, flooding in Metro Manila will get worse before it gets better.”
Already, three arguments militate against any further reclamation of Manila Bay or other major bodies of water in our archipelago: the threat of storm surges, the very real dangers of subsidence, and the vulnerability of reclaimed areas to earthquakes and resultant liquefaction.
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Already, we are aware of the overcrowding, and the almost-unbearable strain on resources, of a rapidly increasing population in Metro Manila.
Should the strategy to cope with this demand rest on the reckless reclaiming of land from the ocean, or should it not be “to plan, manage and fund the more environmentally sensitive pattern of metropolitan development”?
Thus, opponents of the reclamation plan demand that the national government “seriously rethink the policy for reclamations and the mission of the PRA (Philippine Reclamation Authority).” The national government, they say, should focus on improving the sustainability and resilience of Metro Manila “instead of adding new land areas that cannot be sustained.”
“Stop the [reclamation projects] in Manila, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite and repeal the city resolutions because they benefit a few at the expense of all” is their cry.
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Joaquin Maria “Chino” Gutierrez, who gained recognition as a violin prodigy and is now recognized internationally as a violin virtuoso, will hold a solo recital titled “Revelry: Live, Love, Dance” at the Francisco Santiago Hall, BDO Tower, Paseo de Roxas, Makati City, on Nov. 30 starting at 8 p.m.
Chino holds a special interest for me as I first encountered his enormous talent when he was still in the elementary grades at Community of Learners, where both my children went, too. I remember our school celebrations enlivened by the violin playing of Chino, who impressed everyone with his extraordinary skill and depth of artistry.
Now 23, Chino is raising funds to enable him to return to and, it is hoped, complete his studies in, Munich, Germany, and earn his bachelor’s degree from the prestigious State Academy of Music and Theater.
The young man had to drop out of the Munich academy one-and-a-half semesters ago because his parents could not sustain his studies there.
“After having made it to Germany, passed the tough auditions and fared pretty well so far, I suppose I’m on the right track,” says Chino. “In the future I hope I can help cultivate an atmosphere in the Philippines where classical violin playing is viewed as an enviable, lucrative career, so that local talents will no longer be siphoned away to other countries or other professions.”
A special treat awaits the local audience for, in addition to other beloved classical pieces, Chino will be rendering a composition by no less than our National Hero, Jose Rizal, titled “La Deportacion,” inspired no doubt by his exile to Dapitan.
Accompanying Chino on the piano is Corazon Pineda Kabayao, an accomplished artist in her own right. She is married to violin maestro Gilopez Kabayao, who recently coached Chino and was duly impressed by the young man’s talent.
