MARAWI/ILIGAN floods and landslides…

If you have lived in the area all your life, you would have noticed the physical changes that concern most people, but not nature’s climate variance. How frequently have you heard that the Lanao provinces have been hit by typhoons, floods, and landslides in the past? Rarely, if ever. Next time you travel between Iligan and Marawi, or to Cagayan de Oro City, take a moment to notice the world around you —the environs you have taken for granted. The trees have grown to gigantic overgrowth; the Matampay road, on a final climb to Marawi, is probably the most dangerous rain or shine road in the world, where giant trees can bury you and your car at any moment while driving through. I used to climb the forested cliff from Bito/Rorog-a-agus to the Matampay road when I was younger. I have walked the entire length of the forested road a few times in the past, but I don’t remember the plants and trees being so gloriously in bloom. I wonder if trees ever age the way humans and animals do, because along the Matampay Road, the trees seem to grow without end. I won’t be surprised if giant insects suddenly ram your car or a T. rex jump (a.k.a. Jurassic Park) in front of or behind your car to chase you out of your wits.

Obviously, climate change has brought even more rain to the nation’s wettest city. If there were no people, Lake Lanao would be a tropical paradise. I recommend that the Mindanao State University establish a small weather station that will measure the province’s annual rainfall and a daily temperature “media” broadcast so that the Maranaw Diaspora can, wherever they may be, feel the cool embrace of home. 

2 minutes video edit from GMA's Saksi