Recurring tragedies
Recurring tragedies
Updated 11:52pm (Mla time) Dec 27, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A10 of the December 28, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
TWO recent tragedies -- the series of four typhoons that killed 1,062 people and the death in a fire of Speaker Jose de Venecia's youngest daughter -- have once again focused attention on two recurring problems. These are deforestation and the inadequacy of firefighting equipment and personnel.
Some people say that deforestation was not the only factor that caused the landslides and floods that killed hundreds of people in Quezon, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Mindoro and Leyte. But certainly deforestation was one of the major factors, if not the major factor. Deforestation destroyed watersheds on the mountains and deprived them of the capability to hold rainwater. The result was that the huge volumes of rain brought by the four successive typhoons came thundering down the mountains, killing hundreds and destroying hundreds of millions of pesos in property and crops.
Logging -- both legal and illegal -- has steadily cut down the once lush forest cover of the country. The forest cover has decreased by 56 percent in the postwar period. In the past 50 years, the country has lost one hectare of forest every minute, leaving only a 21-percent forest cover. To be sure, loggers are not alone to blame. There are also those who practice “kaingin” (forest burning and clearing to provide land for farms) and those who cut down trees for firewood and charcoal-making. But these make up a minimal percentage of those who destroy the forest.
The government is virtually helpless in stopping illegal logging. Only about 4,500 forest rangers watch over 15 million hectares of forestlands. That is about 300 forest rangers per region. Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri recently said, "Imagine an area the size of Mindanao with only 1,800 rangers, and you get the alarming picture."
In the coming year, the executive and legislative departments will have to get together and agree on either a total logging ban or a selective one. At the same time, a nationwide reforestation program has to be adopted, funded and continuously carried out. Perhaps the help of non-government and civic organizations could be enlisted in the massive effort. The strictest safeguards have to be adopted to insure that the funds are used only for reforestation and not frittered away in "administrative costs" and graft and corruption.
The death of KC de Venecia, the Speaker's daughter, in a fire that hit their mansion should focus national attention on the inadequacy of firefighting equipment and personnel of cities and towns. It is a shame and a disgrace that Makati City, the country's financial center, does not even have asbestos suits for its firemen. Such suits are now standard issue in cities and towns in other countries.
De Venecia has said that he would introduce a measure to equip the firefighting units of cities and towns with asbestos suits. But more than that, a thoroughgoing study should be made of the equipment and personnel needs of all firefighting units so that enough funds can be allocated for them in the national budget for 2006.
The death of KC should also prompt home and building owners to reexamine their property to see if they comply strictly with the National Building Code. In their desire to protect themselves from robbers and intruders, some home and building owners may have built firetraps. If they have unwittingly done so, the errors as well as violations of the National Building Code should be corrected before the next fatal fire strikes.
A review of some of the major fires in the past 10 years or so would show that metal grilles prevented people in burning houses and buildings from escaping, with the result that they either burned to death or suffocated. In other cases, there were no fire exits or they were improperly constructed, or there were no fire alarm systems and fire hydrants. Among these fatal fires were: the Ozone Disco fire, with 160 dead; the fire at the New Imperial Hotel in Cotabato City in 1997, with 24 killed; the Lung Center fire in 1998, with 25 patients killed; the fire at the Settlement House in Paco in 1998, with 28 people dead (23 of them children); and the Quezon City Manor Hotel fire, with 25 dead.
In most of these fires the deaths could have been avoided, or at least the number of casualties could have been minimized had there been strict compliance with building regulations or had firemen been adequately equipped with the latest in firefighting equipment.
Updated 11:52pm (Mla time) Dec 27, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A10 of the December 28, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
TWO recent tragedies -- the series of four typhoons that killed 1,062 people and the death in a fire of Speaker Jose de Venecia's youngest daughter -- have once again focused attention on two recurring problems. These are deforestation and the inadequacy of firefighting equipment and personnel.
Some people say that deforestation was not the only factor that caused the landslides and floods that killed hundreds of people in Quezon, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Mindoro and Leyte. But certainly deforestation was one of the major factors, if not the major factor. Deforestation destroyed watersheds on the mountains and deprived them of the capability to hold rainwater. The result was that the huge volumes of rain brought by the four successive typhoons came thundering down the mountains, killing hundreds and destroying hundreds of millions of pesos in property and crops.
Logging -- both legal and illegal -- has steadily cut down the once lush forest cover of the country. The forest cover has decreased by 56 percent in the postwar period. In the past 50 years, the country has lost one hectare of forest every minute, leaving only a 21-percent forest cover. To be sure, loggers are not alone to blame. There are also those who practice “kaingin” (forest burning and clearing to provide land for farms) and those who cut down trees for firewood and charcoal-making. But these make up a minimal percentage of those who destroy the forest.
The government is virtually helpless in stopping illegal logging. Only about 4,500 forest rangers watch over 15 million hectares of forestlands. That is about 300 forest rangers per region. Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri recently said, "Imagine an area the size of Mindanao with only 1,800 rangers, and you get the alarming picture."
In the coming year, the executive and legislative departments will have to get together and agree on either a total logging ban or a selective one. At the same time, a nationwide reforestation program has to be adopted, funded and continuously carried out. Perhaps the help of non-government and civic organizations could be enlisted in the massive effort. The strictest safeguards have to be adopted to insure that the funds are used only for reforestation and not frittered away in "administrative costs" and graft and corruption.
The death of KC de Venecia, the Speaker's daughter, in a fire that hit their mansion should focus national attention on the inadequacy of firefighting equipment and personnel of cities and towns. It is a shame and a disgrace that Makati City, the country's financial center, does not even have asbestos suits for its firemen. Such suits are now standard issue in cities and towns in other countries.
De Venecia has said that he would introduce a measure to equip the firefighting units of cities and towns with asbestos suits. But more than that, a thoroughgoing study should be made of the equipment and personnel needs of all firefighting units so that enough funds can be allocated for them in the national budget for 2006.
The death of KC should also prompt home and building owners to reexamine their property to see if they comply strictly with the National Building Code. In their desire to protect themselves from robbers and intruders, some home and building owners may have built firetraps. If they have unwittingly done so, the errors as well as violations of the National Building Code should be corrected before the next fatal fire strikes.
A review of some of the major fires in the past 10 years or so would show that metal grilles prevented people in burning houses and buildings from escaping, with the result that they either burned to death or suffocated. In other cases, there were no fire exits or they were improperly constructed, or there were no fire alarm systems and fire hydrants. Among these fatal fires were: the Ozone Disco fire, with 160 dead; the fire at the New Imperial Hotel in Cotabato City in 1997, with 24 killed; the Lung Center fire in 1998, with 25 patients killed; the fire at the Settlement House in Paco in 1998, with 28 people dead (23 of them children); and the Quezon City Manor Hotel fire, with 25 dead.
In most of these fires the deaths could have been avoided, or at least the number of casualties could have been minimized had there been strict compliance with building regulations or had firemen been adequately equipped with the latest in firefighting equipment.
posted by Dante at 10:42 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home