by: Donald Sevilla
WHEN RAINDROPS FALL
Life reawakens and once arid earth, slowly turns green. The prairies and wetlands teem with life as flora and fauna rejoice in the falling rain.
Yet in life, too much of anything upsets the delicate balance and order of the universe. Torrential rains bring flashfloods and cause landslides. Severe weather systems cause strong typhoons to form and if we haven’t noticed, our storms get stronger and deadlier. Remember Yolanda and Odette?
Thanks to climate change and man’s constant intervention on the environment, we are experiencing unpredictable and abnormal weather patterns and conditions.
Weather modification techniques and experiments over the years have divided scientific schools of thought and stirred up controversy. Cloud Seeding may help induce rains but it does not stop a drought.
While we need to help our farmers in a dry spell, our responses are mostly reactive and offer a short term if at best a pallative solution to a recurring problem.
We can ask ourselves what we have done during normal times to prepare for this exigency in the long term. Did we build adequate reservoirs and develop aquifers to address this problem?
Sadly we forgot our priorities. We relegated our food security to focus on short term gains and leisure activities. Our governance and policies have been set on matters that entertain our people without looking forward to a stable and secure way of life for the future.
Ain’t this true? Why do the prices of food and other commodities rise meteorically if our leaders are seriously addressing it? Did we give adequate support to our farmers to encourage more people to engage in agriculture to bolster our food supply?
It seems our leaders are engrossed and biased toward activities that ensure their election winnability more than anything else. Beauty pageants, sports engagements, fun runs and band festivals are sure-fire formulas to gain popularity among the masses.
While too much discussion has already been made on the subject of cloud seeding, there are other pressing concerns in our society that matter.
Lest we forget, we have the AICS (Aid to Individuals in Crisis Situations) controversy which investigation is pending for public scrutiny. Our governance requires accountability and transparency and we have more to be made aware of.
In the meantime, as the raindrops fall, nature is the final judge on the efficacy of our actions. Should we stop or continue tampering with Mother Nature? The answer is blowing in the wind and washed away in the rains.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace turns into a circus. – Turkish Proverb”