by ERNESTO T. SOLIDUM
The weekly Kapehan on June 13, 2009 discussed the topic "Bangon Aklan", a bleak and somber reminder of a natural catastrophe that crippled Aklan almost one year ago. Engr. Victory Fernandez, Prov’l. Engineer; Engr. Roger M. Esto – Chief, Provincial Planning and Development Office; Atty. Allen S. Quimpo – Action Officer, Bangon Aklan, and Exec. Director Aklan Rivers Dev. Council; and Ms. Araceli Pelayo – Chief, Phil. National Red Cross (PNRC), Aklan Chapter were the guests.
As a flashback, Engr. Esto mentioned that typhoon Frank damaged property and public infra worth P2 billion and caused the death of 53 people. The on-going rehabilitation program calls for P100 million expenditure to dredge and widen constricted waterway at Poblacion, Kalibo – Bulwang, Numancia area down to the mouth of the Aklan river. About 100 hectares of the land will be reclaimed at Bakhaw Norte with extracts of gravel and sand.
The provincial government of Aklan has allocated fund for one unit dredging machine at a cost of P10 million and another P2 million for hydrologic studies and geodetic surveys from Libacao to Kalibo, Esto revealed.
Atty. Quimpo underscored the need for disaster preparedness and community mobilization in the face of mounting calamities spawned by global warming. In his visit to Albay, Atty. Quimpo was impressed of the advanced state of readiness of Albay Public Safety and Management office. The former Congressman mentioned that all government agencies, PO’s and NGO’s dealing with disaster relief, mitigation and forecasting are housed in one building. Manned by 23 regular personnel, it is equipped with diagnostic laboratory equipment, seismograph, weather sensors, and ambulance.
Quimpo laments that from the original P12 billion promised by the Arroyo administration to the Paglaum Fund, it is reduced to P8 billion. With the current global economic crunch and ballooning budget deficit, Aklan’s share has downsized from P1.2 billion to P100 million. Nevertheless, his office has managed to buy and install four units of rain gauge, one in each town of Altavas, Kalibo, Ibajay, and Libacao to monitor precipitation and make accurate weather forecast everyday.
Absence of Coordination
Ms. Pelayo reported that out of 603 housing units targeted for completion this year, 262 are completed and turned over to beneficiaries of Red Cross shelter program. PNRC has graduated 106 youth for Red Cross Community-based Disaster Preparedness. This was held in two batches that ended on June 6, 2009 at Sampaguita Gardens, New Washington.
Ms. Pelayo underscored the Project 143 to be fully implemented in all barangays. PNRC will organize the Brgy. Response and Health Welfare teams especially with the impending threat of influenza A (H1N1). "PNRC Aklan is a blood collecting agency that maintains limited stock of 50 blood packs in its small bank freezer," Pelayo stressed. In order to shore up reserves, she advises town executives to conduct regular blood donation program among its constituents for emergency use.
Issues and concern are the lack of coordination among government agencies concerning disaster relief, rehabilitation, and funding. Both Atty. Quimpo and Kalibo SB member Lilian Q. Tirol have no info whatsoever of DPWH plan to rehabilitate the Aklan river. Omission is highly irregular and controversial since project planning must be bottom-up and not otherwise. PNRC has embarked into construction of shelter projects. PEO has one mobile clinic (donated by PCSO) used for medical and dental sorties. But PNRC – DOH has none. It appears that much of our manpower and equipment are dissipated because of narrow vision and selfish interest of some officials.
A more daunting challenge could be taming the Aklan river and using its potential for power generation, irrigation and potable water. Regulating its flow by a series of dams could effectively mitigate periodic floods/mudflows and the devastating effect on human lives and property. Aklan is currently facing power cut-off by Napocor to Akelco on June 25, 2009, a potential rice deficit by 2020 (barely 30 percent of 23,000 hectares rice farm is irrigated) and potable water supply is expensive and unreliable. Local waterworks depend on underground aquifers.
Virtually, a master plan by a revitalized PPDO is needed to put all our acts together and expedite projects implementation. Anticipated hindrance can be funding but foreign and local investors can be tapped as soon as Aklan Investment Incentives Code is enacted into law.
Napocor chose to unilaterally cut off its contract of supplying power to Akelco. It is time for leaders, bureaucrats and NGO’s to revive plans for constructing multi purpose dam in Dalagsaan, Libacao, and Maria Cristina, Madalag as previously proposed by Governors Garcia and Cabagnot. This proposal may not merit Akelco’s Board of Directors since they have awarded pricey contract to Asea One Power Corp. that may fuel with biomass, a renewable power source. One may be skeptical but rice hull, rice straw, coco husk, and all others have very low thermal energy coefficients and generate rather large amounts of carbon dioxide, ash and all others during combustion process. Biomass and coal fired power plants spew prodigious amounts of lethal gasses into the atmosphere. But biomass can’t be favored because coal can be sourced from nearby Semirara Island.
The consequences of removing and hauling voluminous materials to plant site is the adversed impact on soil conservation and productivity as top soil is striped of organic materials that would otherwise decomposed to humus. Plausible short term solution could be opting for diesel power plants that are heavily dependent on imported oil. It should be recalled that completed dendrothermal power plant established in Nabas, Aklan in the 1980’s failed to operate because of fuel supply problem.
Unpsychological Strategy
Akelco’s advice to its member consumers about Time of Use strategy do not apply to individual paying households/establishments but specific service power charged by the former to the latter at certain periods of the day. It is just unpsychological cost reduction strategy.
Computation of power consumed between 2:00 – 7:00 AM though three times lower than the usual peak hours (6:00 PM – 9:00 PM) could not be reflected in the Akelco billing since there is no computer-timer unit attached to the household electric meter. An undated Akelco letter says it all: Ginasuma ro kabilugan nga konsumo it Akelco base sa presyo ag oras ko atong paggamit it kuryente ag ro anang mangin aerage karon hay imaw dayon ro aton nga Generation Charge sa natungdan nga buean." It appears that Akelco manager Chito Peralta is deliberately trying to hoodwink everybody by false hopes and promises.
Long range planning calls for vigorous representation and appeal for rational thinking despite the odds. Hitting three birds with one stone can be driving force for this physical transformation and commitment to the ideals. Rehabilitation of Aklan river is practically temporary, illusory and wasteful since there is no regulatory mechanism as to water flow compared to a hydroelectric dam.
Let us make sense of what we have experienced over the past years and evaluate whether we can cope with another disaster similar to, if not stronger than typhoon Frank. /MP
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