Inquirer journalists were not exaggerating when they reported that more and more areas are now in a “survival of the fittest” mode. And yet the current crisis is but a foreshadowing of the worst to come. Its seriousness may be underappreciated by those not yet hit by the
water shortage, but eventually it will be a matter of life and death for us all.
Hospitals, fire departments, sewage systems, household chores may be rendered inoperative. Whole communities may be decimated. This happened in Ethiopia and South Sudan years ago.
Everywhere else in the world is vulnerable to nature’s vagaries, which can spell apocalyptic scenarios.
Whether we believe in God or not, it is not unreasonable to attribute our fearful circumstances to the Most High’s purpose of calling our attention to our human helplessness and confronting us with our failings that incur divine displeasure, such as our indifference to social injustice, the perversion of our values, tolerance of violence, amused approval of blasphemous speech and consent to dark deeds in high places.
Whatever our political stripe, let us set aside our divisions for the meantime as we need to unite in supplication for heaven to water our parched fields and fill up our depleted dams.
FERNANDO GARCIA, fg78636@gmail.com