WARNING FOR GLOBAL WARMING

It’s been more than a year since the tsunami disaster hit several Asian countries. By now, many countries in the region have put up their early warning systems for tsunami threats, while nothing has been put up so far here in the Philippines. Is it because of lack of money or because of a lack of focus on the part of the government?

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By comparison, a tsunami hits a target only once (one at a time) while the multiple effects of global warming hits several targets several times many times over. There is really no point in comparing which is worst and which would kill more people, but the bottom line is the same, both are dangers to human lives and our government should focus on the solutions.

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Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that the estimated costs for putting up a tsunami warning system here in the Philippines has been over-estimated or over-rated, as the case may be. I hope that the rough estimates did not come from the prospective suppliers, as these would be self-serving in that case. I also hope that no one is planning to turn this project proposal into another graft and corruption scam.

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For several years, it was widely known that solar panels cost too much, so much so that the energy derived from these solar cells was also too much overpriced. Recently however, the prices of these cells have gone down drastically, so much so that resulting output prices are already very competitive with other commercial options in the market.

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Although not exactly the same in design and construction, solar cells and digital sensors are more or less in the same price bracket, such that simple but practical monitoring systems could be designed and installed now for various purposes. Examples of these are sensor-based systems for tracking and monitoring fluctuations in temperatures and water levels. This is not to say that ready-made and off-the-shelf solutions are not available but the bottom line is always cost-efficiency.

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Going straight to the point, I think that the responsibility and accountability for the tracking and monitoring of geo-physical threats to public safety should be localized or “devolved”, as the local jargon would put it. As it is now, local government units (LGUs) are not under any obligation to track and monitor the fluctuations involving these threats. Perhaps as a result of the lack of legal sanctions, most LGUs do not have counterpart units or offices that could work hand in hand with national agencies such as the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) and the Environment Management Bureau (EMB).

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Based on the present pattern of governance, agencies like PAGASA, PHIVOLCS and EMB function as policy makers and service providers. In contrast, the service provider functions of the Department of Health (DOH) have been devolved to the LGUs, with DOH retaining the policy making function. By the way, as it is now, there is probably no LGU now where there is an equivalent local office that could be the counterpart for the Department of Science & Technology (DOST), the supervising agency of PAGASA and PHIVOLCS.

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In many advanced countries, LGUs could be sued by anybody if they fail to deliver what is expected of them. Believe it or not, the LGUs in these countries are even sued by national government agencies (NGAs) as if they have no connection with each other. The bottom line here is that the LGUs are accountable for specific responsibilities, while there are NGAs that track and monitor their performance, and would sue them if necessary.

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It may sound a bit far-fetched and esoteric, but it is really possible to track and monitor the signs of global warming at the LGU level? Would it also be possible to track and monitor compliance with national standards, assuming that these could be nationally defined and locally delegated?

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It is not the first time that warnings about the threats of global warming have been sounded. This time around, it is TIME Magazine that has sounded the alarm, but how I wish that the alarm would not fall on deaf ears, particularly at the local level. While the LGUs now have the “free choice” of doing something or not, it is about time that national standards are imposed, with penalties for those that do not meet the standards.