Pass climate change measures, urges UN

A United Nations official on Tuesday urged countries like the Philippines, which are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, to adopt measures to reduce the impact of disasters.

“Climate change is causing already more intense disasters and extreme weather events,” said John Holmes, UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Thus, he added, countries that are vulnerable to climate change effects should build and plan for disasters.

“We can’t stop natural calamities [from happening]. We can’t stop the disasters, but we can reduce the impact of the disaster if we take measures in advance,” he said in a press conference in Makati City on Tuesday. “We have to be even more concerned to make sure that we are ready when disasters happen.”

Holmes said countries like the Philippines should create a disaster risk reduction, initiate technology, such as early warning devices, and allocate funding to mitigate the impact of disasters.

The UN official is on a two-day mission in the country and has visited some of the flood-affected areas in Pasig City (Metro Manila).

Holmes said he also wanted to see the effects of the typhoons and the Philippine government’s emergency response to Ondoy and Pepeng. He met the senior government officials, including President Gloria Arroyo and Cabinet secretaries, including Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, who is chairs the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDC).

He said that he was struck by the standing floodwaters in the Pasig area, adding that he was particularly concerned about the families who are still living in flooded areas as they are exposed to different diseases, such as diarrhea, leptospirosis and other diseases. He said the government “should look for ways to get rid of the standing water” in the area, which is expected to stay for two months or more.

Good points

Holmes also said that he was impressed by the “speed and efficient” response to the disaster by the government, especially the extensive search and rescue operations and the quick release of emergency relief supplies to the victims of the calamity.

“Our cooperation has been exemplary so far, and we are determined to work together even more closely as the relief operations continue and early recovery operations start,” he said.

He added that the UN would likely revise the flash appeal to the international community for the Philippines after they have finished the assessment of the damage caused by typhoons in northern Luzon. “We are waiting to see the nature of the damage. We will be revising that in the few weeks time,” he said.

Of the $74 million being targeted for the Typhoon Ondoy relief operations, Holmes said UN has already received $19-million worth of commitments from the international community. He added that outside the UN flash appeal, $25 million more were given directly to government and nongovernment organizations.

In his meeting with President Arroyo, Holmes said he expressed his sympathy for more than 6 million people affected by the recent calamity, and conveyed his condolences to the government and families of the more than 500 people who lost their lives.

Garbage cleanup

Also on Tuesday, Chairman Bayani Fernando of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said that his agency started disinfecting piles of garbage wrought by Ondoy early last week to prevent the disease outbreak in flood-stricken areas of Metro Manila.

He added that the agency’s Solid Waste Management Office (SWMO) has deployed personnel to the cities of Marikina, Pasig and Taguig to sanitize the garbage stilled piled up there.

“The main objective of this is to prevent the spread of any kind of disease and to ensure that our cities remain healthy,” Fernando said, adding that residents of those areas were concerned that tons of garbage caused by recent flooding may spread diseases.

He said the sanitation process include the use of knapsack sprayers and a biodegradable disinfectant. He added that his agency bought nine knapsack sprayers for the operations and has already consumed around 900 liters of disinfectant.

Earlier, officials warned the public of water-borne skin diseases, such as diarrhea and leptospirosis, in areas that are still flooded after Ondoy and Pepeng ravaged Luzon.

Fernando said that the areas already covered by the operations included the several barangay—Santa Ana, Calzada, Ibayo and Ligid in Taguig City. The temporary dumpsite in Manggahan Floodway and garbage in Barangay Santolan in Pasig City were also disinfected.

In Marikina City, the temporary dumpsites in Sumulong and Balubad were already sanitized as well as the piles of garbage in barangay San Roque, Nangka, Santo Niño and Malanday.

Committee for Manila Bay

In a related story on Monday, the Supreme Court announced that it has convened an advisory committee to monitor the clean up Manila Bay.

The court spokesman, lawyer Jose Midas Marquez, who also a member of the committee, said the Manila Bay Advisory Committee, led by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco, would verify the compliance reports of the 10 government agencies tasked to spearhead and coordinate for the cleanup, restoration, and preservation of the water quality of the bay.

The High Tribunal’s clean-up directive stemmed from the complaint filed by Concerned Residents of Manila Bay before the Regional Trial Court in Imus, Cavite province, against several government agencies in an effort to save the Manila Bay from becoming a virtual dumping ground.

In December 2008, the Supreme Court came out with a decision ordering the clean up of the Manila Bay. Tasked to do the job were the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Budget and Management, Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine National Police Maritime Group and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

According to the Supreme Court, the number one cause of pollution of the major river systems and the Manila Bay are the shanties and other unauthorized structures that do not have septic tanks along the Pasig-Marikina-San Juan rivers, Tullahan-Tenejeros rivers, the Meycauayan-Marilao-Obando (Bulacan) rivers, Talisay (Bataan) River, Imus (Cavite) River, Laguna de Bay, and other minor rivers and waterways, riverbanks, and esteros that discharge their waters into the major rivers and eventually into Manila Bay.

Also earlier, environment officials blamed the severe flooding in Metro Manila to illegally dumped garbage that blocked heavy rains from draining properly. –Cris G. Odronia and William B. Depasupil, Manila Times