(Guagua, 03.10.09) Flood waters have not subsided in portions of Guagua town in Pampanga province, 77 kilometers north of Manila. A week after Typhoon Ondoy hit, waters in the market near the UCCP church in Bangkal village are still knee-deep. Houses of at least 60 members along the waterways are similarly flooded.
»We’re now immune to floods,« Rev. Eduardo Jimenez, Conference Minister of the West Central Luzon Conference, told a team of volunteer relief workers from the UCCP. Since the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo and the construction of dikes, the area has been flooded each year for stretches of up to six months during the rainy season, Jimenez said.
»Just get us some motor boats for rescue,« replied Rev. Severino S. Calma, when asked about how the congregation could be better prepared. Twenty years ago, the congregation had stockpiled emergency rations but gave this up when rats and insects infested it. Arrangements with the local market to supply these goods would do just as well.
Calma, minister of the UCCP WCLC Church, pointed out that all local churches have existing organisational structures from which Disaster Preparedness and Response Teams could be drawn. Each UCCP congregation has a Council, a Board of Elders, a Board for Christian Education, and a Board of Deacons. Also generally available are Christian Youth Fellowships, Christian Women’s Association and the Christian Men’s Associations.
Reflecting on the impact of the typhoon, Calma said, »All things work together for God’s purpose.« He explained that calamities are blessings in disguise because they raise the level of social concern and move people to work together. »Many big and small issues are forgiven as people work alongside each other.« He acknowledged the leadership of civic organisations in relief work. »While this is good, it should convict us. If the church is to be light and salt of the earth, we must be out there in front.«
Bangkal is a »rurban« community made up mostly of skilled and semi-skilled workers including carpenters, furniture makers, laundry women, and tricycle drivers. Any rehabilitation plan for Guagua would have to reckon with the way nature works in this natural water catchment located at the northern tip of Manila Bay. Guagua is in the 4th largest basin in the Philippines and is vulnerable to flooding primarily because of its low elevation and flat terrain. Complicating the problem is Guagua’s proximity to Manila Bay where tides impede the river and creek flow several kilometers upstream. Narrow and silted waterways brought largely by the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption contribute to the problem. The river delta is also reported to be sinking slowly making the area very vulnerable to instant flooding.
Soon after Pinatubo, engineers local and foreign recommended permanent evacuation of some towns in view of the continuing threat of lahars and flooding. Many residents rejected this move and therefore the places remained. Access to both river and the sea even in pre-colonial times gave Guagua’s its strategic position in trade and transportation. Pampanga’s economic centre during Spanish colonial times with the influx from Manila of rich Chinese who were persecuted by Spanish colonial authorities. The challenge is how to live alongside nature (SLB)
