Reason and Concern

By Ronquillo C. Tolentino

Of Rivers, Once More

I always appreciate and love rivers. I had lived proximate to the Aklan river from 1948 when my parents transferred residence to Kalibo from New Washington. It was so until December 20, 1981 when I considered moving my family after the death of our eldest son, Jesus Ronquillo I. Tolentino, Jr. on April 30, 1980 who incidentally was born on Christmas eve of December 25, 1972.

I found a brief essay topic on the importance of rivers from most of my files which were preserved notwithstanding "Typhoon Frank" of June 21, 2008 which also affected my law office, thus:

"Rivers have been very useful to men in all parts of the earth since very early times. They provide water to stake the thirst of men, to fertilize their lands and to provide a means of communication for the goods that transport from place to place.

"Early civilization began on the banks of the great rivers of the world, such as the Nile and the Indus. These rivers provided the water, the people on their banks needed for all their purposes. As people in those early days did not have the transport facilities that we have today. They had to live close to the rivers to transport their goods to places along the rivers and to draw the water that they needed.

"Rivers not only provide water for their domestic needs and agricultural purposes but also enable the people to move from place to place along their banks. Boats or rafts are used to travel from one end of a river to another. In the same way, goods are also transported. With the transport of goods and the contacts of people between different parts of the same river, there are also many cultural exchanges. Thus, rivers help spread civilization.

"It is true, however, that rivers have also caused much misery and loneliness to millions of people throughout history. They have caused floods and destroyed lives and property in all parts of the earth. For example, the Hwang Ho in China has been described as "the sorrow of China" because of the destruction that it caused in the past.

"But it should be realized that floods occurs in several years. Therefore, the damage that rivers cause is not so great as the benefits that they confer on humanity. Today, rivers continue to be used not only as sources of water for drinking and fertilizing the lands or as means of transport but also as source of electricity which has revolutionized society."

"The importance of river is therefore not difficult to appreciate." Before the House of Representative is House Bill No. 6500 filed originally in the 11th Congress as House Bill No. 347, with the 12th Congress as House Bill No. 1188 and the 13th Congress as House Bill No. 153.

Introduced by Congressman Nelson I. Dayanghirang, House Bill No. 6500 mandates each city and municipality to create a River Development Authority with the function of preserving, protecting and developing all the rivers, river system and all natural water ways within its respective jurisdiction.

The bill stresses that the Philippines has 421 principal rivers and 384 river systems but a great number of them are gradually vanishing, many are dying, while others are suffering from physical biological, and or chemical damages. Some have simply died or vanished. These can be attributed to pollution, indifference, and apathy to environment, ignorance or simply human greed.

The bill which is languishing in the House of Representatives since the 11th Congress laments the damage wrought on a river and its consequent death is not only a threat to public health. It is a vivid and compelling symbol of a crumbling social order, a symptom of a society under severe environmental stress.. Its putrid stench is the smell of our collective guilt –the guilt of those who contributed to the violation of its purity.

In the 1999 11th regular session of the Congress of the Philippines, former Aklan Congressman Allen Salas Quimpo filed a bill on the Aklan Rivers Development Authority. While the bill passed the House of Representatives it got stalled in lthe Senate when the 11th Congress adjourned consigning the bill to the congressional archives.

Early in 2005, on the first provincial adminis-tration of Governor Carlito S. Marquez, the Aklan Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Aklan enacted the Aklan Rivers Development Authority to rehabilitate, preserved and develop the river system of the province.

Environment authorities consider the Aklan Rivers Develop-ment Authority the first in the country. . .

Peace In Election

The Philippine National Police (PNP) had recorded election-related violent incidents (ERVI) in 2004 and 2007 elections. This early, it has identified the following provinces as election hotspots: Abra, Basilan, Sulu, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Masbate, Nueva Ecija, Samar, and Maguindanao.
The PNP had initially identified 76 towns across the Philippines as probable election hotspots. The 76 towns are located in the provinces of Abra, Nueva Ecija, Masbate, Western Samar and Lanao del Norte. The initial list does not include the entire Maguindanao province. The presence of threat groups, recorded intense political rivalry, existence of active partisan armed groups and recorded cases of election-related violence are continually assessed by the PNP and considered within the threat level. The PNP, in identifying threat level considers strategic security planning and deployment of troops and resources for election operations.

Even as this is so, and the firearm amnesty notwithstanding, PNP records reveal that there are still a total of 122,700 loose firearms in the nine (9) provinces. Maguindanao is highest with 33,000 loose firearms as shown allegedly by intelligence reports.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!/MP