The Politics of Super Typhoons

Super typhoon Kristine brought untold misery and damage to many provinces in the Philippines. Camarines Sur and Albay were the most affected in Bicol. The heavy rainfall triggered massive flooding and blanketed low-lying areas with murky water breaching homes and destroying appliances. Many cars were displaced and submerged, practically rendering them useless.

In Naga City and neighboring towns where many residents were or by themselves evacuated to higher grounds amid rapidly rising waters, learned many lessons along the way. Rain was unrelenting and unforgiving. It happened when these areas were blanketed with darkness and into the wee hours. The devastating aftermath was so profound, it will affect people’s psyche for the rest of their natural life.

Why did this happen was the primordial question. Somebody must be responsible. When President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. came to town and met with local officials and some affected residents, social media exploded, heaping blame on the president for the failed flood control projects that the president bragged about during his last SONA. City netizens were unforgiving and were clearly still hurting from the last presidential election.

With him was the city mayor Son Legacion and other local officials who shared the blame for lack of preparedness to evacuate people at such an ungodly hour and for what many city residents perceived as slow response in the aftermath. Understandably people were upset because of their predicament, high emotions have taken over their common sense. The situations on the ground were still very fluid with many parts of the city being under knee-to-waist high water.

Despite 15 city Barangay Captains’ calling for Mayor Legacion’s resignation, he persevered and continued his mandate of helping residents, picking up trash and litter for most of the day, and assisting businesses get back to some normalcy. He was always updating city residents of where he was through live coverage of their cleanup efforts. The mayor’s closeness with the president was obvious and has benefitted the city with national government assistance.

At least the president had some common sense to say that this was no ordinary typhoon and that no amount of flood control structures could have withstood the onslaught of Kristine. Having been to other provinces greatly affected by this same typhoon, he made a reflective observation that flood waters in Metro Naga were slow to recede. He then makes a promise to revisit the Bicol River Basin project that his namesake father started back in the 70’s.

In social media, one city official challenged the president’s sincerity regarding revisiting the river basin project unless funds are made available in the FY-25 national budget, for the continuation of the project. The city official’s left-handed praise can only be attributed to the upcoming local elections in 2025. This same city official is a rabid supporter of the defeated presidential candidate who is now waiting to claim the mayor’s seat.

Let’s pause for a minute and discern what this project was about that the city official was alluding to. The Bicol River Basin Development Program’s (BRBDP) overarching goal was primarily to raise the socioeconomic level of farmers along the river basin through various integrated projects for rural development. In the context of the recent calamity, flood control was a miniscule portion of the program. Environmental studies on the impact of certain projects and approaches were done but merely pro-forma to satisfy funding requirements.

Impact studies are great tools for planning and assessment to ensure environmental concerns and development objectives are balanced (economics versus pollution). But, as in anything, these studies are susceptible to political pressure, can be watered down, and rendered meaningless. For example, one impact study for the integrated fisheries development in the Bicol River basin highlighted the water pollution (phenol, cyanide, and bacteria) as a main source of water supply for such a project.

Furthermore, it identified adverse impacts such deterioration of water quality downstream, probable increase of vector borne diseases such as dengue, leptospirosis, cholera, typhoid fever and Bancroftian filariasis, and destruction of minor agricultural crops and vegetation.

Another study pointed to a potential severe flooding as much as 50% particularly in the flood plain -  the low-lying areas that are prone to flooding when a river or other body of water overflows its banks. Topography clearly played a big part in the flooding. Studies also pointed out the poor engineering (and corruption) employed in the BRBDP projects that were overlooked because economic development was the more urgent major target.

The late Jesse Robredo was the post EDSA executive director of the BRBDP in 1986 and served for two years. His progressive minded intellect and dynamic leadership energized the planning agency and made his star shine. Backed by the powerful provincial governor Luis Villafuerte Sr., Robredo found himself suddenly catapulted into the city/provincial politics.

Robredo’s entry in politics doomed the BRBDP as he would push for the Metro Naga concept during his long tenure. Metro Naga consists of the city and 14 other municipalities. Robredo saw Metro Naga as a better vehicle to hasten economic activity for the city and neighboring towns and he was probably spot on. Naga City became highly urbanized, but the other members of the development council experienced slower progress.

Robredo became the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). DILG’s mandate includes among other things, “ensuring public safety, and strengthening local government capability aimed towards the effective delivery of basic services to the citizenry.” Robredo’s wife, Leni became the representative of the second district of the province before becoming the second highest official of the land after Robredo’s death.

Jesse Robredo was mayor for over a decade and earned the city multiple awards for efficiency and people’s participation including the highly prestigious award for himself, the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service. Even after he was elevated to DILG, he remained engaged and wielded significant influence in Naga politics to ensure his allies were elected and kept Naga and the congressional district away from the Villafuertes.

After a combined 20 plus years that the Robredos were in power and exerted great influence, where was the vision to address the unfinished business of the BRBDP particularly with sustainment of prior projects and addressing chronic flooding? Ironically, it was during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte through the efforts of the Villafuertes that basin dredging in the low-lying areas of Camarines Sur and bamboo planting along the riverbanks resumed some 30 plus years later.

Clearly, there must be long-term concerted and deliberate efforts to clear the basin of sand and silt to minimize the risk posed by perennial flooding. Riverbank restoration prevents soil erosion that clogs the waterways. These efforts, however, must be supplemented with construction of well-designed flood control projects.

Those in government long enough should know that knee jerk reactions to calamities is good politics but invites graft and corruption and ends up hurting the intended beneficiaries. Problems will not be solved overnight, and the people should be told this to avoid false hopes.