With the current climate status, predicting the weather is much harder than ever. In Cebu alone, unexpected heavy rains were experienced throughout this week when it is supposed to be a time for drought (El Nino). The heavy rain caused massive flooding in all areas of Cebu City, Mandaue City and Talisay City with water at knee-level and even neck-level.

The flooding caused traffic congestion and left commuters stranded on the road, erosion and landslides that ruined properties, houses swept away by strong water's current, and killed a sixteen year old boy while he was swimming in a river.

Meanwhile, the government council are so busy throwing stones at each other because of the poorly designed drainage system. True, the drainage system is a critical tool to alleviate this crisis and it should be given attention but they have to understand that flooding is not just an outcome of poor drainage system. There is an underlying cause of this problem, and that is the negligence and apathy of the people in protecting and preserving trees and the environment as a whole.

Too many trees are being felled and natural eco-system destroyed to build infrastures too many reclamations were done in hope to widen the land area of the region too many rivers are clogged with garbage and are transformed into dump sites yet too many people choose to do nothing and see nothing of these growing problems.

You see, unless everyone perceives the bigger picture of the situation and understand the real root cause of the problem, the same scenario will be seen over and over again until everyone is flushed away by our own waste and negligence.