Senator Loren Legarda. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
As if the country鈥檚 power woes were not enough, senators on Monday warned that the government must also start gearing up for disasters that would include coastal floods due to climate change and strong earthquakes that experts say may occur at anytime.
Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano pointed to a recent study by the Asian Development Bank warning of rising sea levels around the Philippines.
鈥淎 recent study of the ADB鈥� identifies the Philippines as (among) the world鈥檚 most vulnerable countries to climate change. The country ranks fifth globally in terms of the number of people to be affected by a sea level rise,鈥� he said.
The ADB report titled 鈥淎ddressing Climate Change and Migration in Asia and the Pacific鈥� acknowledged that sea level rises were already seriously threatening coastal communities聽 in Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma).
Cayetano said his concern stemmed from the 鈥渁bsence or seeming lack of preparation鈥� on the part of the government 鈥渇or climate change related calamities in areas where increases in sea levels pose immediate threats to communities.鈥�
As far back as聽 10 years ago, climate experts had been warning that the melting polar ice could cause sea levels to rise by at least one meter.
鈥淭ropical cyclones and flashfloods that killed and displaced hundreds of thousands in Mindanao and the Visayas last year and previous calamities caused by storms 鈥極ndoy鈥� and 鈥楶epeng鈥� should serve as crucial lessons for the government to learn from,鈥� Cayetano said.
The ADB report recommended that governments聽 invest heavily in urban infrastructure resilient to harsh calamities and basic services聽 such as health, water, sanitation and education for displaced schoolchildren.
Meanwhile, Senator Loren Legarda said government officials must also gear up for a strong earthquake that could strike in Luzon at any time.
Legarda, chair of the Senate climate change committee, said numerous warnings had been aired about how the Marikina fault that runs from the Sierra Madre mountain range in eastern Luzon to Laguna province is 鈥渞ipe鈥� for another movement.
She noted that experts had聽 warned that structures, especially in Metro Manila, may not be strong enough to withstand聽 a possible magnitude-7 earthquake.