Danger comes in many forms in risk areas

At least three houses on stilts in Lapu-Lapu City that formed part of informal settlements built over water in the Mactan Channel have been toppled by big waves generated by a passing fastcraft. Fingers quickly pointed to possible violations of standing speed limits imposed on vessels transiting the narrow waterway and indeed there could have been breaches in the regulations.

The settlements have long been there. On the other hand, fastcraft have also been plying the channel for nearly three decades. In that time, no such incidents have been reported, presumably because these fastcraft complied with the imposed speed limits. It is therefore very likely that the culprit in this out-of-the-ordinary incident was indeed a speeding fastcraft.

And if that is the case, then the speeding fastcraft responsible for the incident has to be identified and both its owners and crew sanctioned. Additionally, they need to compensate the affected families for their injuries, losses, and inconvenience. There is a very good reason why this has to be done, and it is that there is a need to set an example as to what happens when a system that worked perfectly with speed limits in place suddenly gets disrupted by irresponsible characters.

But this is not the only problem that has been exposed by this unfortunate incident. There is also the matter of these informal settlements posing danger to themselves, not just from waves generated by passing vessels but from the ravages of nature themselves. Apparently the regulations put in place after Yolanda regarding no-build zones in high risk areas have been forgotten or worse, completely ignored, that is until now.

Had the post-Yolanda regulations concerning no-build zones in high risk areas been followed, these informal settlements would have been cleared long ago since Yolanda happened almost four years ago yet. And it is virtually impossible for these settlements to have been missed by the authorities since these settlements are not hidden but are there for everyone to see.

Clearly these settlements, for whatever reason, have been tolerated or ignored. Had it not been for the fastcraft incident, these settlements would probably have stayed where they are not supposed to be –in a danger zone.

But because of the incident, the city of LapuLapu is now promising to remove them away from danger. At least out of some unfortunate incident something good is about to come.