Hi friend, thanks for your insights and warnings. This is the first I have read anything by you. I too live in the Visayas, on Siquijor island. Like most places we are in a drought, which seems to happen in cycles, so water is an issue. It is ALWAYS an issue on a small island, but the politicians have no problem encouraging development to line their pockets. More development leads to excess strain on the electrical grid which is mismanaged at the expense of the citizens. This is not a new condition. It has been an issue since I moved here 12 years ago, but every administration ignores it to the point it cannot be denied. So, their solution is to blame it on El Nino. Read below a comment I posted in the Siquijor Forum, which pretty much sums it up. The one thing I believe is that solar is not available to 99% of the population of provincial citizens which are impoverished, and that on an island wide level it will be too expensive and subject to grift, corruption and mismanagement.
People still don't understand that solar is NOT going to save Siquijor in the near or distant future. The cost of planning, purchase and installation of solar panels will be a long term project, wasting time while Siquijor burns. Keep in mind there are two sides to solar energy: first, the generating and converting solar power to electricity and secondly the storage of the energy which requires expensive arrays of not-very-efficient batteries.
Recently, the governor has been forced to acknowledge that Siquijor has an electrical distribution problem. What a surprise!! Like it hasn't been evident for a decade or more. However, the governor, like all governors before him, refuses to take any responsibility for the problem. Instead, he claims that the problem is complex and requires a number of complex and time consuming solutions, so not to expect any relief in the near future.
Moreover, the government conveniently places much of the blame on El NINO,
as an act of GOD. EL NINO is an aberrant weather pattern that, from time to time, causes droughts = more electricity demand = overload of the generators = burnout of electrical distribution = frequent and continuous brownouts. El NINO, on the other hand, can also cause extended periods of rain storms, which do not create more electricity demand or overload of the generators or burnout of electrical distribution or more frequent and continuous brownouts. However, the "brownouts” frequency during the rainy season is not much diminished. The government, by blaming El NINO on an act of GOD, would suggest that the only solution is to pray for celestial intercession rather than government action. This is nothing more than a convenient distraction from the real cause and effective solution.
It seems rather odd to suggest that there is no easy fix or solution while, at the same time, approving ever more development schemes guaranteed to increase the electrical demand as well as the need for more tax funded infrastructure to support development. This policy completely ignores that Siquijor needs to appropriate the necessary funds to purchase a 3rd GENERATOR while upgrading the existing 2 generators that are long past their generating prime. This alone would create relief in the short term, while giving Siquijor breathing space to explore alternative energy solutions in the long term. So, the question remains, why is there no political will to acknowledge and move forward with this most obvious and easily available solution?
Great to meet you Ron, Siquijor is the nicest island I've been to so far. Your post made me grin, because I can't count the number of local friends who also say "El Nino." I finally asked my asawa, does she even know what that means, and the answer was 'hot weather.' She had never heard of a global weather pattern originating in the Sahara, and like you indicate, people are so willing to believe whatever convenient explanation is available that makes them helpless. It is a strange human condition that I will never understand. I have asked friends here, "so how did you get your water when you were a little boy?" and the answer is the same, they trekked to the community well somewhere to fill buckets (only without a motorcycle).
The solutions are not hard to find. My assumption is that in places like ours, we are already 'defeated' in the eyes of the Techno-State. No need to apply trickery as in California to make us all into true believers. They assume the local govt. is too corrupt and the people too backward to solve challenges on their own, and I guess history has proved that to be true. On the other hand, I would never want this place to be modern and advanced. I would be happy if they could throw off some of the superstition and helplessness though, and just take a look around at all the natural beauty and resources. Stop trying to emigrate to Canada, stay here and build a life to be proud of. Anyway that is the advice I give the youngsters.
Hi friend, what a nice surprise to see your reply. I sadly have to agree with your assessment about the backward nature of Filipinos in general and their lack of will? courage? ?? to challenge the profound corruption in the government that allows such deception and lack of action. Actually, I am of two minds regarding Filipinos. On the extreme, there are the most courageous of journalists and citizen activists who risk their lives to expose corruption or to change the doom loop trajectory of the PH. Considering that the PH has one of the highest murder rates of journalists in the world, one wonders where these people get the courage to stand up, stand out and risk their lives for a docile and compliant population. And, on the other extreme is the culture of compliance where most are afraid to voice their opposition to government corruption or to advocate for change. So it is that the courageous few sacrifice their lives for the cowardly masses. This dynamic will never change as long as elections can be bought openly and the opposition activists murdered.
As a foreign resident on an SRRV, I am willing to speak the obvious truths regarding conditions here but have no expectation that it will make any impression except to piss off the corrupt political establishment; a small risk if I do not push it too far. But, to really make an issue of this, there needs to be a grassroots movement of native activists, something I will encourage. Otherwise El Nino wins the day and Siquijor burns, and I, like other foreigners who are "rich" in comparison, can just keep my mouth shut and buy a generator. Problem solved.
Education takes time, and my belief is that is the real root of their problem. So I encourage them to think, to question, to look up for themselves the fact that it is only 31 degrees outside, not 43 that they have been reading about on Facebook. I challenge the young ones to know why they think as they do, and to be able to back it up. I do view this as our permanent home, not wanting to become persona non-grata but hopefully someone who helped them understand a better way.
Hi friend, thanks for your insights and warnings. This is the first I have read anything by you. I too live in the Visayas, on Siquijor island. Like most places we are in a drought, which seems to happen in cycles, so water is an issue. It is ALWAYS an issue on a small island, but the politicians have no problem encouraging development to line their pockets. More development leads to excess strain on the electrical grid which is mismanaged at the expense of the citizens. This is not a new condition. It has been an issue since I moved here 12 years ago, but every administration ignores it to the point it cannot be denied. So, their solution is to blame it on El Nino. Read below a comment I posted in the Siquijor Forum, which pretty much sums it up. The one thing I believe is that solar is not available to 99% of the population of provincial citizens which are impoverished, and that on an island wide level it will be too expensive and subject to grift, corruption and mismanagement.
People still don't understand that solar is NOT going to save Siquijor in the near or distant future. The cost of planning, purchase and installation of solar panels will be a long term project, wasting time while Siquijor burns. Keep in mind there are two sides to solar energy: first, the generating and converting solar power to electricity and secondly the storage of the energy which requires expensive arrays of not-very-efficient batteries.
Recently, the governor has been forced to acknowledge that Siquijor has an electrical distribution problem. What a surprise!! Like it hasn't been evident for a decade or more. However, the governor, like all governors before him, refuses to take any responsibility for the problem. Instead, he claims that the problem is complex and requires a number of complex and time consuming solutions, so not to expect any relief in the near future.
Moreover, the government conveniently places much of the blame on El NINO,
as an act of GOD. EL NINO is an aberrant weather pattern that, from time to time, causes droughts = more electricity demand = overload of the generators = burnout of electrical distribution = frequent and continuous brownouts. El NINO, on the other hand, can also cause extended periods of rain storms, which do not create more electricity demand or overload of the generators or burnout of electrical distribution or more frequent and continuous brownouts. However, the "brownouts” frequency during the rainy season is not much diminished. The government, by blaming El NINO on an act of GOD, would suggest that the only solution is to pray for celestial intercession rather than government action. This is nothing more than a convenient distraction from the real cause and effective solution.
It seems rather odd to suggest that there is no easy fix or solution while, at the same time, approving ever more development schemes guaranteed to increase the electrical demand as well as the need for more tax funded infrastructure to support development. This policy completely ignores that Siquijor needs to appropriate the necessary funds to purchase a 3rd GENERATOR while upgrading the existing 2 generators that are long past their generating prime. This alone would create relief in the short term, while giving Siquijor breathing space to explore alternative energy solutions in the long term. So, the question remains, why is there no political will to acknowledge and move forward with this most obvious and easily available solution?
Great to meet you Ron, Siquijor is the nicest island I've been to so far. Your post made me grin, because I can't count the number of local friends who also say "El Nino." I finally asked my asawa, does she even know what that means, and the answer was 'hot weather.' She had never heard of a global weather pattern originating in the Sahara, and like you indicate, people are so willing to believe whatever convenient explanation is available that makes them helpless. It is a strange human condition that I will never understand. I have asked friends here, "so how did you get your water when you were a little boy?" and the answer is the same, they trekked to the community well somewhere to fill buckets (only without a motorcycle).
The solutions are not hard to find. My assumption is that in places like ours, we are already 'defeated' in the eyes of the Techno-State. No need to apply trickery as in California to make us all into true believers. They assume the local govt. is too corrupt and the people too backward to solve challenges on their own, and I guess history has proved that to be true. On the other hand, I would never want this place to be modern and advanced. I would be happy if they could throw off some of the superstition and helplessness though, and just take a look around at all the natural beauty and resources. Stop trying to emigrate to Canada, stay here and build a life to be proud of. Anyway that is the advice I give the youngsters.
Hi friend, what a nice surprise to see your reply. I sadly have to agree with your assessment about the backward nature of Filipinos in general and their lack of will? courage? ?? to challenge the profound corruption in the government that allows such deception and lack of action. Actually, I am of two minds regarding Filipinos. On the extreme, there are the most courageous of journalists and citizen activists who risk their lives to expose corruption or to change the doom loop trajectory of the PH. Considering that the PH has one of the highest murder rates of journalists in the world, one wonders where these people get the courage to stand up, stand out and risk their lives for a docile and compliant population. And, on the other extreme is the culture of compliance where most are afraid to voice their opposition to government corruption or to advocate for change. So it is that the courageous few sacrifice their lives for the cowardly masses. This dynamic will never change as long as elections can be bought openly and the opposition activists murdered.
As a foreign resident on an SRRV, I am willing to speak the obvious truths regarding conditions here but have no expectation that it will make any impression except to piss off the corrupt political establishment; a small risk if I do not push it too far. But, to really make an issue of this, there needs to be a grassroots movement of native activists, something I will encourage. Otherwise El Nino wins the day and Siquijor burns, and I, like other foreigners who are "rich" in comparison, can just keep my mouth shut and buy a generator. Problem solved.
Regards
Ron
Education takes time, and my belief is that is the real root of their problem. So I encourage them to think, to question, to look up for themselves the fact that it is only 31 degrees outside, not 43 that they have been reading about on Facebook. I challenge the young ones to know why they think as they do, and to be able to back it up. I do view this as our permanent home, not wanting to become persona non-grata but hopefully someone who helped them understand a better way.
Cheers.