AS I write this, it’s been only 15 days since the start of 2020 and I’m already exhausted. I’m guessing you are, too, dear readers.
No sooner than we semi-quietly—since many municipalities and villages have already banned fireworks to celebrate the New Year—ushered in 2020, we received a grim reminder of the potential damage of climate change on other parts of the world. While the bushfires in Australia have been raging since September 2019, it seemed to turn for the worst as the new year rolled around with reports that around a billion animals may have perished from the conflagration.
This, even as Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has tried to deny any link between climate change and the bushfire crisis, and continues to defend his government’s emissions policy. Climate experts have agreed, though, that global heating has contributed to the frequency and severity of bushfires not just in Australia, but around the world. Unless all countries implement policies to ease climate change, we are in for hotter summers, more severe typhoons (or cyclones) and other more perverse weather conditions.
On January 3, we were shocked by the news that the United States had killed Qassem Soleimani, the top general of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, via drone strike at the Baghdad International Airport.
While the Pentagon has said Soleimani was plotting to “attack American diplomats, and service members, in Iraq and throughout the region,” his killing immediately put the world on the edge. Even diplomats from several countries have warned of an impending war in the Middle East, where some 4 million of our countrymen are estimated to be working.
Not long after, Iran, not surprisingly, retaliated to avenge the death of their beloved general, by firing missiles at a military base in Iraq where US forces are located. Fortunately, advanced warning systems were able to put these forces out of harm’s way.
I immediately had to look up the map of the region as my niece works in Abu Dhabi, and I have a few relatives and friends in Dubai, as well. Although the United Arab Emirates, to which both Emiratis belong, is far from Iran and Iraq, it was still unnerving that one man could send the entire world spinning, with just a simple kill order on his perceived enemy halfway around the world.
While the leadership in the United States and Iran have said they would not pursue any further military action against each other, the tensions continue to simmer, as we now worry of impending regional military confrontations, possible rising prices of fuel, which, in turn, will push the prices of consumer goods here at home higher.
Then comes the eruption of Taal Volcano last Sunday, with the main crater spewing plumes of smoke and ash into the sky seemingly without warning. (In fact my sister’s family was on a day tour of Tagaytay, and innocently took selfies and group photos, with the volcano and its puffs of smoke behind them. They didn’t realize the eruption was serious until ash started raining from the sky. Good thing they were already headed back to Manila, but reported the slow crawl back due to poor visibility on the highway.)
We’ve all seen the photos of the volcano with steam billowing 30,000 feet into the air, ash-covered residents evacuating the affected areas, villages blanketed in grey dust, the fish kill in the Taal Lake, among others. Already, the province of Batangas has declared a state of calamity, and its mayors, especially those heading smaller municipalities with smaller budgets, are appealing for help from the national government. The ashfall on Sunday was propelled toward Metro Manila by the wind; I picked up immediately on it without news reports even having to confirm it, as my eyes and nose started to itch, and I went into long coughing fits, a sure sign my asthma had been triggered. (I had been out on the balcony doing my laundry. Ugh.)
There have also been reports of dead animals, and via social media we found out there were still evacuees who had no access to the required N95 masks to protect their respiratory systems. There was also inadequate food and clothing, and people leaving evacuation centers because there was no electricity and water.
Being a disaster-prone country, the government, it seems, has yet to learn its lessons from previous calamities. Why were these evacuation centers not equipped with generators? And why was there no water? The Interior secretary even had to call on the public for donations of food, water, clothing and other necessities, when government should have enough calamity funds to address the evacuees’ needs.
(We found out later that the usual government agencies involved in disaster relief and solutions had met only on Monday morning, even though Taal started erupting on Sunday at 2 to 3 pm. No one thought of calling everyone for a meeting that Sunday evening to immediately give some overall policy direction?)
And so now we sit, and wait anxiously for the Big One from Taal as the fiery magma continues to rise to its surface. A new year usually brings on a lot of cheer, celebration, and upbeat sentiment. And while it doesn’t feel that way these past few days, I just hope our brief coming-together as a nation to help those affected by the Taal eruption, can give us enough small wins to help us push forward into the rest of the year with some renewed optimism.
Image credits: AP
1 comment
As usual, nothing positive to say about the govt. Maybe try to dig a little more deeper considering there have been no HUMAN deaths during the eruption or brought about being caught during the eruption. Hay… mga tao nga naman.