When I left the Philippines for the United States in 1978, life in the land of my birth was like a page out of a Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities. Outside the fortified walls where the elite live were shanty towns where the poor and the disenfranchised eked out a living scrounging through the garbage of the wealthy. The country was ruled by the same dynastic families that had been running the country since time immemorial. People went into politics not to serve the country but to serve themselves. Corruption was a way of life.
Thirty-five years later I wonder if anything at all has changed. In March, 2013, the World Bank reported that the Philippines had weathered the financial crisis and financial shutdown quite well with a GDP growth forecast of 6% for 2013. President Aquino was seen as fighting corruption. The country seemed to be on the verge of great changes. But Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) has changed all that. In twenty-four hours, mother nature’s greatest fury yet put everything in perspective and has underscored the great divide that still exists between the rich and the poor.
National disasters are a way of life for the Filipinos. The Philippines sits on the ring of fire and is therefore wracked by frequent earthquakes. An average of 19 tropical storms enter the Philippine area of responsibility in a typical year. A year ago on November 25, 2012, Category 5 typhoon Bopha/Pablo devastated parts of the Philippines affecting 486,554 families (5,408,900 people), 249 municipalities, 37 cities and 30 provinces. Most of the communities were from the Mindanao area, Cebu and Palawan. Many who lost their lives were fishermen working for fishing companies in the Davao (Mindanao) region. The toll was 714 deaths, 890 missing and 1,906 injured. In 2013, between August and November 8, there were at least four Category 3+ typhoons (150+ km/hr) that hit the Philippine area of responsibility. Days leading to Typhoon Haiyan, it was being forecasted as the strongest typhoon ever in history. When Typhoon Haiyan hit land on November 8, why did it take 3 days for the national government to declare a national state of calamity on November 11, 2013?
The National Disaster Reduction and Management Plan (NDRMP)outlines the rescue and recovery plan for such disasters. It falls under the Office of Civil Defense which is tasked in formulating the plan and providing leadership in its implementation. While thousands of people were starving and dying on the ground, why was there so much confusion regarding the leadership of the rescue effort?
Right after November 8, how is it that international agencies like Doctors without Borders were able to travel by car, boat, plane and helicopter to some outlying areas like northern Cebu, eastern Samar island, Panay and Western Leyte which neither the Philippine government nor its agencies had been able to reach? As of November 20(from NDRMP figures), Haiyan affected almost 10M people in 44 provinces with 4,011 fatalities, 1,602 missing and 18,557 injured. Of the fatalities, 3,725 were from Leyte and Eastern Samar.
As of November 20, 2013, there are still towns in the provinces of Antique, Capiz and Iloilo without any water supply (Source NDRMP).
While people and countries from all over the world have mobilized to help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, why do I not see our politicians imparting with some of their ill-gotten wealth to help? Maybe this can partly ease their conscience but perhaps, this concept is too foreign for them. And where is the Rose of Tacloban? Surely a few pieces of her trinkets or even one Monet painting from her treasure trove can help ease the pain of her fellow town mates? Her silence speaks volumes!
With worsening global warming, bigger and more frequent typhoons will wreak havoc on the Philippines time and time again. Prayers alone will not save the Filipinos from the wrath of mother nature. Foresight and preparation may stave off impending disasters and possibly limit the human and economic loss. The 1,000 residents of the small island of TulangDiyot inthe town of San Francisco in Cebu were saved, thanks to the decisiveness of its former mayor, Alfredo Arquillano, when he ordered their evacuation before Haiyan hit ground.In 2011 under Mr. Arquillano’s leadership, San Francisco won the U.N.’s Sasaka Award for Disaster Risk Reduction for its community work based on an indigenous method of self-organization within villages. The town has a capital build up program whereby the community deposits agreed amounts as initial capital for post disaster assistance. Perhaps, the present administration should take lessons from Mr. Arquillanoor better yet, make him head of the Office of Civil Defense to oversee disaster relief. If the United Nations has recognized Mr. Arquillano’s prowess in disaster risk reduction, why can’t our own government see this?
Out of this disaster though came an outpouring of kindness and generosity from so many countries. This is also the first time I have experienced Filipinos from all over the world joining hands in an overwhelming show of support. Typhoon Haiyanmay have created such havoc and despair but it also mobilized the Filipino diaspora and in the process we are truly becoming anation. Never have I been prouder than this very moment.
But when the world stops looking, we as Filipinos must ensure that our government fulfill its duty and responsibility to plan for the future of current and future victims of natural disasters – how to rebuild their homes, their livelihood and their future. If the Philippines wishes to join the Asian nations’ train to prosperity, it cannot leave behind a majority of its people who live in shantytowns where mother nature’s wrath can destroy their lives and future with one powerful gale.
Typhoon Haiyan has awakened the Filipino psyche and hopefully, it has taught us that we must choose the stewards of our government well. Filipino politicians by the same token should take lesson in a famous quote from President John F. Kennedy whose 50th death anniversary falls on November 22. “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”