Before
you cry foul over the blog title, please allow me to share my piece. For one, I
am deeply saddened by the devastation of the storm and I have been fervently
praying to the Lord not to let us experience the same. The harrowing ordeal of
the people of Visayas during the morning of 8th of November is going to be
written in history books as one of the worst disasters in the world. So allow
me to say that there is a reason Yolanda should happen to us, no matter how
painful it is.
It should happen not because we are full of sins and we
deserve some sort of retribution but because we need a huge slap on our face
that will remind us that tragedy as massive as this will happen, wreak havoc
and bring deaths to our hapless nation. Our geographical location instantly
puts us in the danger zone, our country is unluckily situated in a part of the
world where typhoons are made and brewed. Our archipelagic nature adds to the
fact that our fate lies on our preparedness to handle the inevitable transits
of super typhoons. Therefore I believe that Yolanda is a tragic calamity that
should be experienced by the Filipinos in order to prepare us for the advent of
more devastating typhoons that are about to visit the Philippines in the years
to come.
Yolanda painfully reminded us the vulnerability of our
nation, the sad fate of our politics and the lack of knowledge of the true
character and temperament of storms. Somehow it showed us the repercussions of
our complacency, that although we are visited by over 20 typhoons every year,
we can always withstand it. But unfortunately, Yolanda gave us a hurtful and
painful blow to our knees and we were all shocked by the impact of its wrath.
Yolanda opened the window that revealed the sheer lack of
our leader's political will. It gave us a sad reminder that dirty politics
still plays a role in the cycle of relief-rebuild-rehabilitation. The local
government unit has been crippled and rendered useless. They were cramming for
clues on how to address the burgeoning problems of logistics, supply chain,
relief supplies and transport, food shortages and handling of casualties. It
was a crisis of epic proportion and the LGUs couldn't handle it.
Yolanda showed to the world the sad reality that although
Philippines is gaining significant economic growth, poverty remains to be a
formidable foe and the trickling-down effect of the recent economic gains are
not yet realized by its populace. You would see in the satellite images in CNN
how densely populated the coastline areas in Samar are. The poorly-built
structures of houses, the density and the closeness to the sea are recipe for
disaster. There were little to no possible evacuation centers. In this moment
of despair, convention centers and coliseums could be a plausible refuge. But
where are they? Although I have seen some in the news, they were all ravaged by
the storms too, roofs were torn apart; rains were coming inside through open
windows.
If I remember it correctly, when hurricane Katrina struck
the US, people were evacuated in sports centers and convention areas. They were
safe inside the sturdy refuge of coliseums while the hurricane is wreaking
havoc outside. And the casualty was very less.
Storm is inevitable, but we can lessen the damage and the
death toll for sure.
It is time for the government to carefully plan a
groundbreaking solution in order for us to be prepared for the next storm
surges and super typhoons. A storm as huge as Yolanda could certainly happen
again and if our country would still experience the same ordeal, I think it
would be an embarrassment.
Let Yolanda be a reminder to our politicians to be more of
a leader than a servant in this time of crisis. May Yolanda be a lesson that
should be tattooed on our mind henceforth. Rehabilitation should commence
immediately, and it should be more sustainable. Rebuilding of houses should not
be a make-shift and temporary. The government must establish laws and
privileges in order to provide emergency funds to help people of Visayas to
make sturdier homes and to elevate and relocate their houses immediately. They
should tap the expertise of urban planners and engineers on how to re-build
their communities. People in coastline should consider moving out of the zone
or if not possible, at least open the possibility of putting up emergency
measures that will educate and inform them of necessary actions to be done in
times of calamities.
It is rewarding and elating to hear notes from other
countries praising our resiliency and faith during these trying times, but it
also reflects the weakness of our culture. Our physical strength and resiliency
could help us but preparedness and fortitude will bring out the best in the
Filipino people.
