The adverse effects of the worsening drought brought about by El Niño — the drying up of farmlands and the plunging water levels in dams, have begun to plague various areas of the country. Sen. Richard Gordon thinks that the government’s “weak risk assessment” has not helped one bit in easing the problems brought by the phenomenon.
Asked if government efforts in assessing the risks posed by El Niño were lacking, Gordon said, “Yes. The government does not listen to many of our scientists.”
He stressed the importance of regularly evaluating the situation in areas expected to be hard-hit by El Niño, so that investments could be channelled into these areas.
Gordon spoke to GMANews.TV after the taping of Kandidato, a GMA News and Public Affairs special which will air this March.
You should understand what the threats are, and you should always develop a risk analysis. Regarding El Niño, the risk analysis is, ‘How can we prevent the ravages of the phenomenon,’ Gordon said.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) has already said water supply from major dams in Luzon might soon reach the critical levels that the country experienced more than a decade ago, if not worse.
Gordon acknowledged the fact that dams, while being major sources of water and electricity, bring with them their own share of dangers.
On one hand, whenever the dam waters exceed spill levels, the sudden release of water triggers flooding of varying levels in surrounding communities.
In early October 2009, vast portions of Central Luzon were submerged in floods
when typhoon “Pepeng” caused dam waters to swell and spill over.
On the other hand, the agricultural and power sectors usually suffer whenever water levels in dams, especially those designed for hydroelectric power generation as well as irrigation – plunge to critical levels.
“Dam if you do. Dam if you don’t,” said Gordon, employing word play on a popular saying, in describing the dangers of having extremely high or low water levels in dam reservoirs.
The senator said the least the government could do is to adopt alternative measures to address problems posed by such extreme weather fluctuations.
He said that if elected President, he would urge public investment in building post-harvest facilities and water catchment facilities in the form of small dams.
“We can build small dams on our small rivers so that we can use the water for irrigation during the dry season,” the senator said.
He cited the example of several states in the U.S. that have succeeded in maximizing their water supply by using smaller water reservoirs.
Meanwhile, Gordon said he would also push for more post-harvest facilities to prevent spoilage of farm products, which hinder their delivery and sale to the market. He said that under his tenure, farm workers would also be taught to choose wisely the crops to plant during droughts.
Asked why investments do not seem to be pouring into these alternative facilities, Gordon said such facilities were not as popular to “transactional” politicians. He used the term “transaction” to imply opportunities for graft and patronage, as other infrastructure projects.
“Projects like that are not sexy. Politicians won’t invest in them because they won’t get any political dividend,” he said.
Gordon said some public officials are good at capitalizing on disasters to improve their public image, but do not even bother to formulate strategies in coping with these disasters.
But when people really feel the crunch of poverty, there enters the political dividend, where they show up distributing food. That’s where they appear attractive. – ? JV, GMA News TV