On September 26, 2009, we experienced the worst natural disaster in our lifetime. Typhoon Ondoy (international code name Ketsana) was a loud wake up call that has changed my perception of the environment, of how we should live and of life itself.

As a boy, I experienced the devastation wrought by the 1968 earthquake that destroyed the Ruby Tower, a residential building in Manila, killing hundreds. Years later came the 1990 Luzon earthquake that badly hit Baguio City. I witnessed the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and the fury of typhoon Uring in the same year; remember the Ormoc tragedy? Typhoon Milenyo in 2006 was also scary. But for me, nothing beats Ondoy!

What’s alarming is because of the worsening global warming, a Filipino official of the United Nations said that the likes of Ondoy will get worse in the near future.

He cited the deadly trio that worsens natural disasters: poor urban government, unstable rural livelihood, and ecosystem decline.

All Filipinos, not just our government, should take responsibility for the worsening effects of natural disasters. We may not be able to predict when another Ondoy will occur but we can do so much to mitigate or lessen its effects. Ondoy would not have hit us as hard had we lived sensibly.

Use plastic bags only when absolutely necessary

If there’s one thing that should be blamed for the deadly effects of Ondoy, it’s plastic bags! Kim Atienza, in the Oct 10, 2009 Matanglawin episode “Delubyo” said the same thing. Below are pictures that may convince you that we have become a society so dependent on plastic bags. They are pictures I took when I surveyed Smokey Mountain last December 30.

Smokey Mountain is no longer a dump site; it now has a top soil; it’s green, lush and full of vegetation… on the surface. But its underbelly is pure trash!

Smokey Mountain has been rid of all recyclable trash and what’s left are a mountain-full of plastic bags that will not decompose.

So much plastic bags and wrappers clogged our canals, creeks and rivers when Ondoy hit. According to our City Administrator, Engr. Benjamin N. Villacorta, since these waterways were clogged, excess water that were released from La Mesa Dam took a long time to reach their natural destinations: Manila Bay to the west and Laguna Lake to the south-east. There was a large amount and “long queue” of excess rain water going to these two bodies of water. This largely caused the severe flooding in Metro Manila that is situated on an isthmus.

Since after Ondoy, I have encouraged my family not to accept plastic bags whenever we buy things, not even small ones from Mercury Drug; I put the medicines in my pocket. We always bring a small bayong and inside it is my favorite Adidas backpack that can be folded into a small pouch when not in use. Of course we also bring a few old plastic bags that have been reused and cleaned several times for “wet” items.

Below is my daughter, Ariel Marie, with her bayong.

Travel in style

I’ve been an avid cyclist for almost two years. Standing 5’6”, I’m so skinny at 115 pounds but I’m very fit. I can easily bike from where I live in Malabon City to SM Mall of Asia. I also play freestyle sepak takraw. Sadly, I still smoke : (

I own a lightweight and very fast folding bike that, thanks to Senator Pia Cayetano and other environmentalist groups, is now allowed inside LRT 1 and 2.

If it were not for my family and work, I can live car-less. Biking is very cheap, much more fun than driving and very healthy. If we are to mitigate the decline of our ecosystem, we should lessen our dependence on modes of transport that require a lot of non-renewable energy. The hastened improvement of our mass transport system will soon make this easy to do.

Below are pictures of my folding bike and how I take advantage of the LRT as I move around Metro Manila. I call my bike Bumblebee : )

These pictures were taken when I met up with a group of people to survey the rehabilitation efforts of the Philippine National Railways.

Not enough waste cans in the streets and not enough political will to enforce ordinances regarding solid waste

I’m the type who will look around and walk an extra 10 meters or so to dispose of my trash properly. Problem is there’s not enough waste cans in many streets. Try walking on any street in Metro Manila, except perhaps in Marikina and Las Pinas, and chances are you will not see enough waste cans.

I started a thread regarding the problem of solid waste in our Vice Mayor’s forum where I use the call sign “brokenarrow.” See how the other forum members reacted to my suggestions.

There are more than enough city ordinances regarding solid waste; it’s the political will to enforce them that’s lacking. I cannot do anything about elected officials’ political will, but I hope they realize that many people litter the streets simply because there are not enough waste cans to throw them into.

Minimize “concreting” of the land

The problem with urbanization is we have poured so much concrete on our land. The National Capital Region, hardest hit by Ondoy, is so small but its population comprises 12.5% of the country’s total projected of 92.23 million for 2009 (latest official figure is from 2007). This has resulted in too many houses and buildings built. Each structure that is built is one less parcel of land that can no longer absorb rain water.

I don’t mind houses, buildings, roads and highways being constructed. It’s the way open spaces were built that I am against. These include sidewalks, parking lots, driveways, low-traffic roads and sometimes even parks.

This is one mistake that even the Ayala’s committed in the Makati Central Business District – they have poured concrete in almost every available open space.

The solution is to use water-permeable paving blocks as much as possible.

Below are images of how the Ayalas have corrected this mistake in their Nuvali project in Laguna:

In Nuvali, only high-traffic roads are paved with concrete. It’s a 1,700 hectare development, 50% of which is allotted to open spaces. Its bike lanes alone will be more than 50 kilometers long, each around 3 meters wide or a total of 150,000 square meters or 15 hectares. Imagine if these bike lanes were to be paved with concrete. That’s 15 hectares of land that will no longer absorb thousands of gallons of rain water.

Here’s how Mr. Henry Sy did it at SM Mall of Asia.

Use “green roofs” instead of traditional roofing materials

This offers tremendous benefits but a bit costlier than the most expensive traditional roofs and is, therefore, not for everyone. Consider the following image for a moment; it’s a satellite image of Valle Verde in Pasig:

So many houses and, therefore, so many parcels of land that can no longer absorb rain water. But what if each house used the so-called green roofs?

Green roofs or live roofs are engineered roof covers with plants and growing media (or engineered soil) taking the place of traditional roofing materials. It’s a low-impact development that mitigates the negative effects of a house’s or building’s footprint by somewhat recreating lost green spaces at the roof level.

Here’s a video showing how beautiful and beneficial green roofs are.

Their benefits are as follows:

• They’re a strong water management system since the soil and plants act like sponges that can absorb up to 60 to 70 percent of rainfall thereby producing less and cleaner water runoff. It’s a flood abatement system.

• They create a healthier environment by filtering air, binding dust particles, absorbing carbon dioxide and other pollutants and lowering ambient temperature which, in turn, lowers urban heat island effect with living and breathing plants.

• Since green roofs are covered with engineered soil and plants, they keep the areas under them cool in the summer thereby reducing cooling energy consumption and cost.

• Since the roof’s structural elements are buried underneath the engineered soil and plants, they are protected from UV rays and wind and temperature fluctuations which, in turn, help double even triple the life of the roof. So maintenance and even replacement costs are avoided. They also suppress outside noise.

• Since plants (flora) are introduced into the concrete jungle, fauna will start to return. Green roofs will provide nesting and habitat for displaced birds and wildlife. When was the last time your kids saw dragonflies, bees and butterflies?

• They create new real estate by taking advantage of that part of the house or building that is usually ignored and forgotten, the roof.

• Did I say that green roofs are beautiful and mitigate flooding?

I hope everyone, rich and poor alike, victims or not, learned from Ondoy. Only by understanding the power of nature and protecting the environment can we transcend every calamity that will hit us in the future. Understand that the likes of Ondoy can come at the most unexpected time but we can lessen their impact if we live sensibly by respecting nature the way we respect our own mothers.

Here’s a website that shows some of the most dramatic images of the havoc wrought by Ondoy.

Thank you so much. Mabuhay ang Pinoy, hindi tayo kaya ni Ondoy!!