Are the Great Floods of 2009 a prelude to a far greater calamity?
Read the excerpt from a monograph on Metro Manila below, then be vigilant that certain powerful actors in this country do not replay a nearly four decade-old script.
In July-August 1972, a series of typhoons brought heavy rains (the worst since 1911) for some 40 days, inundating Central Luzon and Greater Manila, paralyzing transportation and communications, and bringing the economy to a standstill. Some 5.5 million people—3.5 million in the provinces and the rest in Greater Manila—suffered from the floods. Within a month after the first rains fell, 565 persons died and thousands were afflicted with respiratory and other diseases. Heavy rains and physical devastation hampered relief and rescue operations and many people faced starvation. Damage to property (excluding lost crops and losses by commercial houses) was estimated at P2 billion. Of this amount, P438 million were damage to public works—roads and bridges, P250 million; schools, P30.7 million; public buildings, P6.2 million; irrigation systems, P34.1 million; flood control works, P60.9 million; telecommunications facilities, P8 million; power stations, P15 million; waterworks, P13.8 million; portworks and seawalls, P4.5 million; and railroads, P15 million.
The President proclaimed a state of emergency for the whole Luzon, sought the requisition of foodstuffs for distribution to flood victims and authorized the army to also use private watercraft for rescue and relief operations. The emergency proclamation was aimed at preventing excessive price increases of commodities by hoarding and profiteering. The Government Rescue and Relief Coordinating Center at Camp Aguinaldo (created in 1970) expanded its responsibility for coordinating and directing rescue and relief operations. The government also announced a retrenchment policy to save money for rehabilitation. American helicopters at Clark Air Base aided the Philippine Air Force in ferrying relief teams and goods. During the emergency, aid came from the United Nations, the United States, France, India, the People’s Republic of China and other countries. The disaster so severely strained government resources that even after the floods had subsided, the President could truthfully declare “We are in a state of crisis,” and could proceed with the fateful decision to introduce Martial Law’.
Source:
Caoili, Manuel A. 1999 [1988]. The Origins of Metropolitan Manila: A political and social analysis. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. Pages 100-101.
