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REACTION ON FLOODING IN LAGUNA

There used to be two seasons here in the Philippines Wet and Dry. However, with Climate

Change and the onslaught of heavy rains and typhoons each year, some would argue that the only seasons

that we experience are Wet and Wetter.

I remember Al Gores An Inconvenient Truth wherein he tackled climate change due to global

warming and honestly, what he opened are very alarming truths. The times have changed and there is no

way we could change the past. We could only do damage control. But all efforts will be futile if there

would not be cooperation.

At only 2.8 meters average depth, catering to the liquid and solid wastes of around 60% of an

estimated 8.4 million residents along its shoreline, Laguna de Bay is a very shallow dumpster. It is no

wonder, then, that with the onslaught of devastating typhoons in the area every year starting in 2006 with

the arrival of Milenyo, there ensued habitual flooding in the low-lying province of Laguna.

In 1966, former President Ferdinand Marcos have already foreseen the potential hazards of

destroying the Laguna de Bay which is why he promulgated RA 4850 which created the LLDA (Laguna

Lake Development Authority). However, the sudden and uncontrolled increase in population has

rendered the efforts of LLDA as almost fruitless as the Lake continued to be more silted and shallower

every year to down its present depth. Because the Lake could only receive a limited amount of water, it

could not even contain much rainwater brought about by typhoons and this contributes to flooding in

areas near the Lake.

It also did not help that the watersheds surrounding the province is fast deteriorating. Our

mountains may have trees for now, but monocrop is abundant and the favored crop is the coconut tree

whose roots do not help much in water absorption. Without trees to absorb excess water in the mountains,

this excess water goes down directly to the low-lying areas which are prone to flooding. The drainage

canals and spillways are also silted and full of garbage due to lack of effective garbage disposal systems

in the province (although some municipalities do have an existing garbage disposal system, some these

are dysfunctional).

Many other factors smaller factors contribute to the habitual flooding in Laguna including its

geographical location. As a Lagunense, what I believe I can do is to make sure that I do not contribute

anymore to the garbage that is being continuously dumped in the Lake of Laguna. Also, I can compel

those around me to do the same. I would also support reforestation projects which would replace the lost

trees and hopefully bring back the watersheds to its original state. There are countless other ways in

which one of us could help alleviate our present condition but these efforts would all go in vain if we

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could not get 100% cooperation from everyone concerned. There should not be any excuses of one being

just one person and being able to do any significant change because change, in order for it to be effective,

must come from oneself.

And so, as I am writing this reaction paper, I am careful not to print this unnecessarily if there are

still corrections. I will make sure that the only copy that comes out of my printer is the copy that I will

submit to my professor. In my own little way, I know that although I have not done much, I have

prevented one more piece of garbage from polluting the Laguna de Bay. Imagine if 8 million people

would do the same thing. It will do much to stop the flood in Laguna.