Huge chunks of earth has been scraped off from the mountainsides and are now setting along the sides of the Abuyog-Silago Road. Some of these chunks are as huge as ordinary houses – testaments to the relentless heavy rains that took lives in St. Bernard Southern Leyte more than a month ago. Landslides have been tearing our mountains apart, as if they are pieces of cakes.
Being a coastal town, the climate change exposes Anahawan and its neighboring towns in Southern Leyte not only to threats from the mountainsides but even more from the advancing ocean. In just a matter of weeks, the ocean has eaten away more than 2 feet deep of the bay exposing the roots of many coconut and Talisay trees and are now clinging on to their dear lives.
I know beaches elevations could move up and down in just a matter of hours due to the changes in tides, but the distance it has gone inland this time just seem so alarming. Many of us are probably aware that the sea has been advancing inland; but those changes are normally noticed in a matter of years or even generations, not weeks.
In just a matter of months and few storm surges, the ocean has already taken few houses and is now threatening to take out more properties. These coconut trees, obviously, are also facing the same risks.
When I first saw the seawall about a year ago, I was not very optimistic about it since according to what I saw on TV some years ago, seawalls also have their own shares of disadvantages. Besides, there is also no known sure fire way to stop the mighty ocean.
This time, however, finished segments of “ongoing” seawall project have apparently saved large portions of our beaches. Had the project been finished sooner, it could have saved a lot of seaside properties… and trees. If ever there is still a plan to finish these walls, it is not too late yet. In fact, this is the time that we need this kind of developments more than ever.
The pictures speak a lot for themselves. Whatever the future holds, no one knows. Only one thing is sure, the future does not belong to us, it belongs to our children and the generations to come. However, the kind of future they will inherit depends greatly on our actions, or perhaps, inactions, today.
