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Twenty years ago the residents of Sitio Pariahan could walk to the local chapel but
today reaching it requires a swim, because the town, like many in the Philippines,
is sinking (AFP Photo/Noel CELIS)
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When Mary Ann San Jose moved to Sitio Pariahan more than two decades ago, she could walk to the local chapel. Today, reaching it requires a swim.
The main
culprit is catastrophic subsidence caused by groundwater being pumped out from
below, often via unregulated wells for homes, factories, and farms catering to
a booming population and growing economy.
The steady
sinking of coastal towns and islets like Pariahan in the northern Philippines
has caused Manila Bay's brackish water to pour inland and displace thousands,
posing a greater threat than rising sea levels due to climate change.
"It
was so beautiful here before... Children were playing in the streets," San
Jose said, adding: "Now we always need to use a boat."
Most of the former residents have scattered to other parts of the region. Just a handful of families remain in Pariahan, which had its own elementary school, a basketball court and a chapel before the water flowed in.
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Areas north
of Manila like the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan have sunk
four-six
centimetres (1.5-2.4 inches) a year since 2003, according to satellite
monitoring (AFP Photo/Noel CELIS)
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Most of the former residents have scattered to other parts of the region. Just a handful of families remain in Pariahan, which had its own elementary school, a basketball court and a chapel before the water flowed in.
These days
just the flooded chapel, a cluster of shacks on bamboo stilts where San Jose
lives with her family, and a few homes on a bump of land remain.
The
children that live there commute 20 minutes by boat to a school inland and most
of the residents eke out a living by fishing.
The
provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan -- where Pariahan is located -- have sunk
between four and six centimetres (1.5-2.4 inches) annually since 2003,
according to satellite monitoring.
"It's
really a disaster that is already happening... It's a slow-onset
disaster," explained Narod Eco, who is part of a group of scientists
tracking the problem.
Threat to lives
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Catastrophic
subsidence caused by groundwater being pumped out from below
is causing some
Philippine cities to sink in coastal areas, allowing sea water to
rush in (AFP
Photo/Noel CELIS)
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Threat to lives
By comparison,
the UN estimates average sea level rise globally is about three millimetres per
year.
The
creeping bay waters put people and property at risk, while the threat is
amplified by high-tides and flooding brought by the roughly 20 storms that
pound the archipelago every year.
Some areas
have raised roads in an effort to keep up with the sinking, creating odd scenes
where the street surface is at the height of door knobs on roadside buildings.
At least
5,000 people have been forced out of the mostly rural coastal areas north of
Manila in recent decades as the bay water has moved further inland, regional
disaster officials told AFP.
The sinking
is very likely permanent because the ground in the hardest hit areas is mostly
clay, which sticks together after the water is pulled out.
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At least
5,000 people have been forced out of the mostly rural coastal areas
north of
Manila in recent decades as the bay water has moved further inland,
regional
disaster officials told AFP (AFP Photo/Noel CELIS)
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The fate of
towns such as Pariahan provides a preview of the problems that may await some
of the capital's 13 million people.
Sections of
Manila along the shore of the bay are sinking too, with excess groundwater
pumping being the most likely cause, Eco, the researcher, told AFP. The
subsidence there though is at a slower rate than the northern coastal
communities, potentially due to less pumping or differences in the soil, he
added.
A
moratorium on new wells in the greater Manila area has been in place since
2004. But enforcing that ban as well as shuttering existing illegal wells,
falls to the National Water Resource Board and its roughly 100 staffers who are
responsible for policing the whole country.
"We
have insufficient manpower resources," the board's director Sevillo David
told AFP. "It's a very big challenge for us, but I think we are doing the
best we can."
Things will get worse
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A
moratorium on new wells in the greater Manila area has been in place since 2004
but enforcing that ban falls to the National Water Resource Board and its
roughly
100 staffers who are responsible for policing the whole country (AFP
Photo/Noel CELIS)
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Things will get worse
The demand
for water has soared as Manila's population has nearly doubled since 1985, and
the size of the nation's economy has expanded roughly ten-fold over the same
period.
This
explosive growth has created a ravenous demand for water, especially in the
agriculture and manufacturing industries to the north of the capital.
"The
sinking is a very serious threat to people, their livelihoods and
cultures," said Joseph Estadilla, a spokesman for alliance seeking to
protect Manila Bay coastal communities.
"This
is only going to get worse in the near future," he insisted.
Manila and
its surroundings are among several major cities, especially in Asia, under
threat as the land collapses beneath them, though the causes for this vary.
Cities such as Jakarta -- which is sinking 25 centimetres (0.8 feet) each year -- Bangkok and Shanghai risk being inundated within decades as a mixture of poor planning, more violent storms and higher tides wreak havoc.
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The demand
for water has soared as Manila's population has nearly doubled since
1985, and
the size of the nation's economy has expanded roughly ten-fold over
the same
period (AFP Photo/Noel CELIS)
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Cities such as Jakarta -- which is sinking 25 centimetres (0.8 feet) each year -- Bangkok and Shanghai risk being inundated within decades as a mixture of poor planning, more violent storms and higher tides wreak havoc.
In Jakarta,
a city of 10 million people that sits on a confluence of 13 rivers, half the
population lacks access to piped water, so many dig illegal wells to extract
groundwater.
Yet in
Pariahan the residents who remain are doing what they can to stay in a place
they call home.
San Jose
explained: "Every year we raise (the floor) of our house. Now my
head almost reaches the ceiling."
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