FLOOD WATERS

KATRINA C. BALANA

When it rains the ground gets wet. A little more rainfall and the grounds will get soaked.

When the rain continuously falls, floods get in the way. It is not a new development here in the Philippines and when the rain gets really heavy, expect that towns and cities will be underwater.

Almost anywhere in the country places get flooded as the rain falls. There are even floods outside of the real rainy season. A lot has been asked about it. Like, is it because rains carry more volume of water nowadays? Are the grounds sinking which cause flooding of the lower areas? Is it true that due to climate change water levels are rising?

Your guess is as good as mine. What is the logical reason about the flooding in almost every part of the country today?

Some would put it that deforestation is the main cause of the floods. The lesser trees will mean lesser absorption of rain water will be. Eventually, rain water will seek its own level which causes the floods in low lying areas.

Others would say that it is because of the congestion of people in the metropolitan areas like in Manila and Cebu. If it is the case, how come that even the suburbs and far flung barrios are not free from floods. Concentration of people is not quite right an inference for the occurrence of floods.

But wait, we are actually looking at a bigger picture that may lead us in pinpointing the real culprit of the incessant flowing of the tide. At present, the Philippines is populated by more than a hundred million citizens which is still increasing every day. Out of the 100 million, each Filipino has the ability of producing tons of waste materials annually. Not only that, every Filipino contributes to the occurrence of floods as they happen.

Remember the prophetic social advertisement not too long ago which goes, “Ang basurang itinapon mo ay babalik at babalik pa rin sa iyo” (the trash that was irresponsibly handled and carelessly thrown away will always find its way back to its sender).

Before learning a lesson the hard way, let proper waste segregation be always in place.