NDCC exec: Arroyo may need emergency powers

(Updated 9:45 a.m.) Saying the drought problem will take more than just finding out where to get water, a senior disaster management official on Thursday said emergency powers may be needed for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) spokesman Dr Anthony Golez Jr said Thursday the present crisis threatens to have effects on business and security. "This takes more than finding water sources ... There are so many implications. Depending on the scope of the powers to prevent a drought, she may need emergency powers," Golez said in Filipino during an interview on dzMM radio. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Wednesday that Malacañang is open to suggestions of giving President Arroyo emergency powers to deal with the prolonged dry spell. However, Senator Joker Arroyo was quoted in newspaper reports as saying that the President already has enough powers to mitigate the impact of the dry spell. The senator ran under the administration's Team Unity ticket during the May 2007 polls. Former President Fidel Ramos used emergency powers to fight power shortage problems during his term. As this developed, Golez said the NDCC has raised the level of alertness among local and national government agencies to deal with the problem. He said that while the government mounted an information drive for agencies last week to prepare for the problem, it now wants authorities to take a more active role to help citizens. "We are now starting to feel the effects of the drought. The local and national government agencies concerned should now step in to help affected areas," he said. "We can now raise the level of alertness," he added. Golez said the present situation rendered "most vulnerable" virtually all of Luzon, including Metro Manila and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR). He said the immediate solution is to make sure rain falls on dams and water-harvesting facilities. Governance vs drought Meanwhile, militant environmental group Kalikasan Peoples' Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) insisted Thursday that giving President Arroyo emergency powers will have little impact in averting the dry spell's wrath. "It's a ridiculous idea. The solution to the threat of drought is not in giving (Arroyo) emergency powers, but in realizing a systematic and pro-people policy for the environment, agriculture, and energy sectors. That's what the Arroyo administration has lacked from Day One," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE. Bautista added that the Arroyo administration could have instead prepared for extreme weather changes if it had "embarked on nationwide projects to guarantee clean and continuous water supply" throughout the country. He said projects that could have been pursued include: the construction of "adequate and effective" irrigation facilities for farmers, reviving polluted river systems, protecting watersheds, limiting "non-essential water-guzzling activities" such as the building of golf courses. Kalikasan PNE also clamored to limit mining activities, especially those that threaten groundwater supply. "It's atrocious to see how the President is asking for even more powers to cover up for what is partly a failure of good and systematic governance ... The President is blaming bad weather as an excuse for her administration's lack of a sound and sustainable environmental and agricultural policy," Bautista said. - GMANews.TV