Remembering ‘Yolanda’

Today marks the third year of the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan), described as the most devastating typhoon to ever hit the Philippines. Close to 7,000 people perished – the death toll higher than Pearl Harbor or 9/11 – while millions lost their homes. One of the hardest hit was Tacloban City in Leyte, dubbed as “ground zero” with everything almost completely wiped out.

The local government of Tacloban prepared several activities, with President Duterte expected to attend the commemorative program in memory of the thousands who lost their lives during the typhoon. Also expected are several senators as well as some diplomats from countries that donated to the relief and recovery efforts, with former mayor Alfred Romualdez and his wife (now mayor) Christina Gonzalez spearheading the activities.

The magnitude of the devastation moved the whole world to come to the aid of the victims, sending cash, food and other relief goods and items, doctors, medical equipment and medicine, dispatching troops as well as military aircraft and other hardware to help in humanitarian and disaster response operations.

The effects of the disaster were so overwhelming that Pope Francis could not be deterred from visiting Tacloban – braving the rain and the unpredictable weather to bring comfort to the people who were so touched by the gesture of the Pontiff. An environmental advocate, the Pope also urged governments to act in mitigating the impact of climate change and protect the environment.

Typhoon Yolanda is a grim reminder of the deadly consequences of climate change. While the President may be right in pointing out that the industrial activities of developed nations have caused global warming and climate change – to the detriment of smaller, undeveloped nations like the Philippines – this is a reality we have to face. Thus, we must prepare for the onset of natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons which are projected to be more frequent and more intense. As Sen. Loren Legarda has long been saying, we have to prepare and reduce the risk of disasters especially since we are one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.

The people of Tacloban actually have a soft spot for President Duterte because he was the first local government executive to come to the aid of the devastated city. The previous Aquino administration has downplayed the Yolanda anniversary and in fact, even skipped Tacloban in the series of activities during the first commemoration, visiting other devastated areas like Guiuian and Bantayan Island but not “ground zero” – ostensibly because the then-president was “busy” with APEC CEO Summit preparations.

Yolanda survivors are hopeful the present administration will finally be able to deliver the help that had been promised by the previous administration. One of the issues that hampered disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts is politics, with perceptions that aid had been selectively given to those who were of a certain political color and persuasion, with accusations that goods and items were used to give favored political allies additional mileage and leverage. In some cases, people were also made to wait for a certain politician to show up for a photo op before the rice, food, water and other relief goods were distributed to the starving survivors.

This kind of opportunism and indifference to the plight of victims prompted Pope Francis to issue the Laudato Si – a historical encyclical that calls on people to show compassion to victims, and condemns the indifference of many at the suffering of people.

If we are to learn one major lesson from Typhoon Yolanda at all, it is that politics has absolutely no place when it comes to human tragedy, wherein Filipinos lives have been turned upside down.

TRB inaction sending wrong signals to investors

The government recently announced it would soon launch the “biggest infrastructure push in Philippine history” with big-ticket infrastructure projects to boost the economy in the next five years. Adopting a mantra of “build, build, build,” the administration of President Duterte is looking at a budget of P8 trillion or about 5.4 percent of GDP, with airports, roads and bridges as well as mass urban transportation among the key projects government is looking at.

That is certainly welcome news to the business sector considering that projects have the potential to solve the perennial problem of congestion. However, investors also want to be reassured that contracts will be honored and rules will not be changed midstream, calling to mind what is happening with toll operator Manila North Luzon Tollways Corp. and the Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. that are losing billions due to foregone revenues because of the continued inaction of the Toll Regulatory Board on their petitions for rate adjustment.

Sources say periodic rate hikes are part of the contracts and are necessary to recoup the operators’ investment and continue the maintenance and upgrade of the roads. Even the Supreme Court has backed a “reasonable” rate of return for operators through periodic adjustments, recognizing the tollway projects would not have been possible without the involvement – and investment – of the private sector.

Perhaps the President should look into the actions – or inaction – of the TRB since it contravenes his directive for agencies to refrain from bending the rules and changing them when the game is already ongoing.

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