Of Earthquakes, Nuclear fallouts and the system's desperate measures
by Lualhati Madlangawa Guererro
We are deeply sad as we've wittnessed a human-contributed natural catastrophe. As Friday last week, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake shook Japan with its tsunami waves up to 10 metres created 6,911 deaths and severe damages to property, costs tens of millions of dollars all over.
But,
One of the most featurable part of the catastrophe is the Nuclear accidents within it-as four nuclear power stations, with a total of 11 reactors, faced the ordeal of shutting down, followed by an explosion as happened in Fukushima I with its leakage of radiative substances. These events, as according to Guenther Oettinger, called it an "Apocalypse" while others recalling the Chernobyl and the Three-Mile Island disaster.
I personally felt so sad about these events happened in Japan, that its government unexpectedly faced a greater mess in a first-world country, and again like in 1945 or the Great Kanto Earthquake, may had much years to rebuilt their lives and clean off the mess especially in areas affected by Nuclear fallouts. Some Anti-Japanese individuals may think of it as a revenge for Pearl Harbor while Filipinos starting to complain about their plight as the Government nearly-failed to get in touch with them.
And speaking of the Filipinos, I even think that more and more workers are getting worried this time around. The riots in Maghreb, in Arabiyya, the alleged "Layoff" in Taiwan, and now the natural disaster in Japan, further increases worries amongst the migrants and this time, wanting to return home empty handed. The government may have tried enough measures to alleviate the crisis but failed to reach the goal of supporting them, worse? Facing a fall in economic crisis due to what Japan faced off.
To others, it seemed that it all reminds of the giant monster Godzilla rising above the waters, all followed by earthquake and nuclear explosions.
Weird isn't it but it nearly mirrors the reality happened that time around.
But despite all of these, that nature did so in creating mess over the land of the rising sun, it also carried an effect of what mankind did to nature in itself- as every system in our respective societies is really tolerating such actions detrimental to the environment that contributed much to these disasters: such as Mining, Tree cutting, even improper garbage disposal and other actions all made in the name of "development" made nature itself paid us with these so-called "acts of god." Japan, being a first world country tried itself to have a showcase of progress, that they are good in maintaining their facility, yet the actions detrimental to nature exchanged with these-as the tsunami waves destroyed over Fukushima and its nuclear facility being destroyed.
Sorry to elaborate much of it about the relation of "global warming" and this hell of a kind disaster. But somehow it is true how mankind, controlled by a system, contributed to the disaster.
But meanwhile, in the halls of Batasang Pambansa,
The stubborn adherents of Nuclear Energy, they still kept on saying that the Philippines should revive its plan involving the white elephant BNPP regardless of its location that is, near Mount Natib and Pinatubo. As Mark Cojuangco, along with the others kept on stating Nuclear Energy as a cheap source and a means to end the power crisis-but there are other alternatives than that, why not a tidal power facility from Luzon to Mindanao so to speak? Of building more wind-generated turbines and massive solar-power facilities? For sure they are tired of much emphasis on Geothermal and Hydroelectric and the crass oil and coal powered ones around the country! And with their hodge-poge of "scientific" and "economic" sentiments laid by these illusory utopianists, I felt that how come these people kept on bannering despite the catastrophe happened? Do they never noticed that the country situated in a ring of fire, of volcanoes and earthquake-prone faults?
Well...
God forbid to have another earthquake to shook over.
Better to see a wave, that is the wave of the people turning against their respective rotten systems. Since regardless of seeing nature revenging, it is the system's fault in creating a major catastrophe-especially as they tolerate what is dangerous.
