Company-made floods

The hum of a front loader disrupted our quiet morning in Lipa.

- CITO BELTRAN

As I followed the noise, I found a front loader next door scraping off grass, weeds and vegetation on a 62-hectare new development.

Operating heavy equipment on a Sunday morning was already very disturbing, but using a front loader to do the clearing was very alarming. While ignorant executives and contractors may think it is the fastest and most efficient approach, it also has serious environmental impacts.

By scraping off the weeds and shrubs with a front loader, the operator also scrapes and disturbs the topsoil and the contour or topography of the land. Because the developer and contractor did the work in the beginning of the rainy season, the loose soil will wash out and turn into mud.

It rained for about six hours last Sunday, and if things go on, it would be safe to say that there will be a washout in the coming days or weeks, and all that will surely drain into nearby areas.

Those areas would be our street, community and eventually two barangays that already experienced unprecedented floodings when Lipa built a bypass road at the same time a developer built low-medium cost housing along the same road a year ago.

This article is not just about the development right behind my home but about the nationwide problem concerning "company-made floods" and the failure of the Department of Environment & Natural Resources, the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), and the DILG to regulate and enforce laws.