Anything in excess…but

By ALICE ENCINAS-NICART (PIA Eastern Samar)
February 22, 2008

BORONGAN CITY, Eastern Samar  –  Anything in excess, even rain is unpleasant and undesirable, but who are we to question the wisdom of the Lord?

As if to remind man’s unwise utilization of natural resources, heavy rainfall has befallen Eastern Samar rendering millions in agricultural damage, displaced families, helpless children in evacuation centers, diarrhea outbreak and food crisis among others.

Some folks recall of no similar sad occurrence at least in two decades despite similar volumes of rainfall.  The past week or so of continued pouring resulted in a number of landslides along the highways (Quinapondan, Giporlos, Taft, Borongan) submerged in water; McArthur bridge collapsed, school buildings with only the rooftop remaining afloat and sports centers became swimming pools.

“What wrong have we ever done as a province to be castigated with such unwanted waters?” an elderly barangay official anxiously asked himself.

In his report today at the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council Meeting (PDCC) Jesus Agda, the province’s Agriculturist said that some P30M damage in rice plantation had been accounted partially as a result of the unwanted rain. Add to this he said, the same destruction in high-valued fruits and crops estimated to be at P11M.

Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) Member Thelma Nicart, who has farmed in San Policarpo hectares of Mango trees for her sideline, could only sigh at her fruits which according to her, in a huddle at the PDCC were beginning to show in heavy bunches of young green fruits.

“February is the time when we spray insecticides to our Mangoes in preparation for summer harvest. Young fruits were already ready for the job, but because of the continued heavy rain, most if not all of them were destroyed,” Nicart who estimated about two million loss in Mango harvest said.

Questions may now play in each inquisitive mind; why did the rivers burst with heavy thick soils? Where did Borongan’s Loom River get its heavy loads of coconut fruits, an undetermined number of debris last Friday, February 15? Why is the flood happening simultaneously in several hinterlands of the province?

Because of the flood, Dolores Jicontol Valley of rice plantation looked like Pacific Ocean, Mayor Ewit Villacarillo reported.  While conducting relief operation this time in the mountains of Jicontol, her group was surprised to spot a boat which carried people from Maslog, when they were not supposed to pass by Dolores area.  She learned later that the boat got lost of its way.

Mayor Toytoy Germino of Can-avid has the same sad story, his farmers lost some 20 heads of carabao; Mayor Jojie Montallana’s (Jipapad) several infrastructures were damaged and Mercedes town representative feared of one barangay in their town to sink due to a big crack which quickly absorbs flood waters.

Governor Ben Evardone in a TV interview stressed however that there is no commercial logging at least to his knowledge in the area, from which denuded forests would have caused the cascading rushing waters that overflowed the rivers and highways.

What specific reason then could we point at, heavy rains setting aside?  Nobody talks about it either in the offices, in the streets, maybe for the moment when each scramble for the day’s survival.

Perhaps, the reason is simple which can be revealed in the furniture and wallings of some big beautiful houses in the entire province. We are not sure of our lumber dealers, because they are limited to log on specific volumes, the rest are imported in nearby forested provinces.