Let’s get serious about disaster preparedness

I’m sorry if the Christmas vacation of our readers in Luzon has been disturbed by the unexpected visit of Typhoon “Nina” (international code name: Nock Ten) but then there are things that we just cannot control and it’s Mother Nature. When they lived in Paradise, Adam and Eve had “Dominion” over the earth and sky… meaning if they wanted it to snow, it would snow or if they wanted it to rain… rain would fall. But then they disobeyed God and Paradise was lost to humankind.

But the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ as promised by God the Father brings us hope that for as long as we do not disobey God’s commandments and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, then we can have a shot at regaining the very Paradise that our first parents lost. So even if there is a typhoon in your midst, it shouldn’t spoil your Christmas season as our Lord Jesus Christ lives within our midst and within ourselves.

So many flights were cancelled between Cebu and Manila and we can only guess that the same is true to the other destinations in the Visayas and Mindanao. For most of the year 2016 we have been largely spared by disturbing typhoons, until Typhoon Nina came just in time for Christmas. What bad timing. But I think the economic disruption of the typhoon did more damage than the disruption of the Christmas vacation of our people.

When we have typhoons within our midst, they always bring us back to the worst that we’ve ever encountered and by worst, nothing could beat Super Typhoon “Yolanda” which devastated Samar, Leyte, Bantayan Island and most of Northern Cebu and Northern Negros and Panay. A day after Yolanda struck, I drove my pickup with relief goods to the north and people were lining up the streets begging for food. This was even before the National Government agencies made their move. There were many of us who did this.

One thing that Super Typhoon “Yolanda” exposed for the international media was the incompetence of the Aquino regime to handle natural disasters. While their propagandist boasted a high-level of preparedness, the reality was the exact opposite. Worst, despite the outpouring of support from all over the world in terms of relief goods and funds, no one came up with a full accounting of the monies that donors from all over the world shelled out. Again, we reiterate our call for the Philippines, even under the Duterte administration to give an exact accounting of the monies given worldwide by donor nations, so that next time we have another natural disaster in our hands, they won’t hesitate to give aid again.

I know that the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) is up on their ears even on Christmas Day just so that government services would be there to the folks that need them during times of calamities. At this point, allow me to remind them of the days after Typhoon Yolanda struck when the generous people of Metro Manila responded positively to help the typhoon victims in Samar and Leyte by sending tons of relief goods on huge trucks via Bicol and Sorsogon.

I will never forget that those relief trucks lined up over 20 kilometers on the national road, waiting to board two roll-on, roll-off vessels in the Port of Matnog, Sorsogon to cross the San Bernardino Strait to the Port of Allen, Samar to bring supplies and rescue items to Samar and Leyte. If the NDRRMC was prepared as P-Noy boasted on national TV, that issue could have been easily resolve if the Philippine Navy commandeered private Ro-Ro vessels plying between Mindoro and Batangas so they could have helped speed up the delivery process to aid the typhoon victims. Alas that was not in their contingency plans! So the relief train was stuck for days waiting in line to board Ro-Ro vessels to cross the San Bernardino Strait!

With Budget Secretary Ben Diokno making a promise that the Duterte administration would be feverishly going full time pursuing infrastructure development, then allow me to propose to the DBM to construct two major facilities for each congressional district. First is to construct purpose built evacuation centers that typhoon or fire victims can use. Today schools are being used for that purpose, thus denying our school children education when disaster strikes. I dare say that it is high time for key cities in this country to have a real evacuation centers and leave our schools alone.

Another facility that each congressional district should do for disaster preparedness is to construct below ground (one floor down) bunkers that can house food and water supplies for a month, medical supplies, generators, cutting tools for trees or downed pole lines, tents and even an ambulance. The food supplies can be replenished and given to the locality every Christmas time so that all food items would always be fresh and ready during calamities. This is something that my good friend, House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez can embrace on a national scale to help our people.

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