The recent floods that hit parts of Barangay Pansol in Calamba City, Laguna once again shone a harsh spotlight on the runaway urbanization in Laguna province.
Netizens have taken umbrage at photos of what appear to be construction work – reportedly of a major subdivision – being carved out of the slopes of Mount Makiling, one of Laguna’s best known natural attractions.
For centuries, Mount Makiling has been the object of reverence by natives, partly due to the sheer natural beauty of the mountain itself, and partly due to the mystical legends associated with it.
Locals talk of the mountain as a sacred refuge of a diwata named “Mariang Makiling,” who had generously given the mountain’s bounty to locals on the condition that they don’t abuse or destroy the mountain’s resources.
What happened last week in Pansol, therefore, can be ascribed as a vengeance of Mariang Makiling to the blatant disregard of greedy developers who are now carving out portions of the mountain for residential and commercial complexes.
But we must be reminded that this is the high price Lagunenses, particularly in the first and second district, now have to pay for economic progress.
Unfettered development that comes with disregard for natural resources will ultimately have its consequences: in natural disasters that, ultimately, will have long-term impacts on our supposedly booming economy.
Mariang Makiling is furious. Nature is unleashing its revenge on the “rape” of her resources. When will our officials listen?
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