A FEW days go a couple of typhoons wreaked havoc on several Luzon provinces, especially Quezon, where thousands died as a result of the landslides that were caused by the relentless logging in the mountains of the Sierra Madre range.
Because of these meaningless deaths, calls have been made to put a moratorium on logging, both legal and illegal. Also, there is a clamor to make illegal logging punishable by death.
What else is new?
As a result of the tragedy, everyone is angry that this tragedy had to happen. Lawmakers, in particular, would again be conducting inquiries in aid of legislation to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the incidents and hopefully to come up with statutes that could permanently put an end to illegal logging and strictly regulate the logging business in the country.
Why only now?
We have congressmen that represent every nook and cranny of the Philippines. It is quite unthinkable that nobody among these solons was aware of the state of our forests.
Aside from that, the 1991 Ormoc tragedy, where some 6,000 people died as a result of flash floods and landslides, should have served as a reminder about the ill effects of illegal logging and of disrespect for Mother Nature.
The Ormoc tragedy should have spurred the fight against the unconscionable cutting of the trees.
In the recent Quezon incident, freshly cut logs were seen rampaging down the mountains and trampling down the houses. It only shows the vigor of the logging activities in the area.
Had the Ormoc tragedy served as the wake-up call, then those massive landslides could have been avoided, or the effects would not have been as devastating.
Sometimes, it’s just unfortunate that a lot of Filipinos suffer from short term memory loss. Since we don’t seem to learn from our mistakes, history would just keep on repeating itself. We’ve had a lot of precedence and I just wish that these landslide tragedies would no longer occur so that the whole circus—legislative investigations in aid of re-election, the blame-shifting—will no longer invade town and that there would be no more useless deaths.
Hopefully, the recent tragedy would truly serve as a wake-up call for us to respect Mother Nature. We should have learned a lesson or two from it by now.
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On the other hand, it is a good sign that at least our lawmakers and the President are taking measures to abate illegal logging and check the logging concessions.
I just hope it’s not another case of ningas kugon.
