Unsolicited advice to fellow Filipinos facing the “El Niño” phenomenon

[oruasor]

As we in the Philippines are facing the so-called “El Niño” phenomenon, I have an unsolicited advice to my countrymen, particularly to those who are in the agricultural sector (both government and private) and who are members of the team that guides the destiny of our nation. I am an electronics and communication engineer and I am sending this advice from Kuwait where I have been working since 1979.

The solution to the “El Niño” phenomenon (ENSO) is simple. All of us who have been in Kuwait for over 30 years have experienced how the people here face natural calamities. They have a good attitude in facing these calamities in the sense that they confront all of them as challenges and not as problems. Of course we can’t compare our country with Kuwait, which is so blessed with black gold that they can use it to convert saltwater into freshwater. But the truth is that since my arrival in Kuwait in 1979, the rainfall here has only been three times a year on the average. This is a country that has two weather extremes—very cold weather (average of 3 degrees Centigrade) and very hot (reaching up to 50 degrees C).   

In the Philippines, however, we are blessed with too much rainwater each year that water even overflows from our largest dams. It is all common sense that God is giving us wealth—WATER—and it is the kind of wealth that Kuwait doesn’t have at all. So we really don’t need to be engineers with PhDs to face the “El Niño” phenomenon.

The solution is actually so simple:

We must build gigantic water tanks in very large numbers around the strategic areas where agriculture is the industry of the people. During the rainy season, we must find ways to collect this rainwater that’s in abundance. Then we should find ways to collect this water—this precious God-given wealth—into those gigantic water tanks.

With the innovations in technology now available to us, we can use this collected rainwater not only for our agricultural needs but also as potable water. It can be treated with chlorine, passed through a number of filters, boiled, cooled down, and—if the family can afford it—refrigerated so it becomes ready to drink.

[maxsims]

I should think that your governments have been aware of this solution for at least the past one hundred years....!

[Silver Cross]

I got a copy of this recent press release about rainwater harvesters from Rep. Emmylou "Lala" Taliño-Mendoza of the first district of Cotabato. Are these rainwater harvesters anything like the gigantic rainwater collectors you are proposing? I’d be interested to know.

March 28, 2010
Enforce old law on rainwater harvesters, says solon

Amid the lingering dry spell that has already ruined some P8 billion worth of farm harvests and put upward pressure on food commodity prices, Cotabato Rep. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza has sought an inquiry into performance of a 20-year-old law requiring the construction of rainwater collectors in all barangays.

"We have a 1989 law mandating the installation of rainwater receptacles in all barangays, with the Department of Public Works and Highways as implementing agency," Taliño-Mendoza, the administration candidate for Cotabato governor, pointed out.

"We should ascertain as to what extent the law has been properly carried out, and whether there is a need for incremental funding to enable the construction of additional rainwater harvesters," Taliño-Mendoza said.

Taliño-Mendoza was referring to Republic Act 6716, which provides for the construction of water wells and rainwater collectors, the development of springs and rehabilitation of existing water wells in all barangays.

Section 2 of the law states: "The Department of Public Works and Highways shall, within 30 days after the approval of this Act, undertake construction of water wells, rainwater collectors, development of springs and rehabilitation of existing water wells in all barangays in the Philippines in such number as may be needed and feasible, taking into consideration the population, hydrologic conditions, costs of project development and operations, financial and economic factors and institutional arrangements."

As of March 2, the verified damage to crops and fisheries due to the El Niño phenomenon has so far reached P8 billion, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

While the Philippines is now at the tail end of the dry spell and parts of the country have been experiencing some rainfall lately, the DA warned that total crop damage could still hit as high as P20 billion by June.

Taliño-Mendoza has been pushing for the aggressive installation of rainwater harvesters as one of the strategies for communities to put to good use heavy rainfall half of the year and cope with drought in the other half.

On Sunday, she cited the need for local governments to compel shopping malls, office buildings and factories as well as schools, residential subdivisions and farming villages to put up additional "safe and sound" rainwater collectors.

The construction of rainwater harvesters should also form part of a new ‘green’ Building Code that is friendlier to the environment and more responsive to severe climate changes, Taliño-Mendoza said.

Noting that the best water collectors are trees, she also said the multiplication of rainwater reservoirs should be complimented by lively tree-growing activities at the community level.

So yeah, the government has already thought of it. No implementation, though.