EDITORIAL - Frustrate Haiti not with pledges

The tragedy that has struck Haiti has generated global sympathy. International aid has started to pour in, although judging by the scale of the devastation, it will take so much more than what has initially arrived to bring the ravaged country back on its feet.

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, if not the poorest. But as if poverty were not enough, it also had to contend with political instability and violence. Indeed, Filipino soldiers are there as part of an international peace-keeping force.

And now this. The crippled country will take a very long time to heal. It will even need a long time to just scrape through. Nutritional and sanitary requirements may be the most urgent need at the moment, but eventually Haiti will need money for rehabilitation efforts.

Judging by experience, monetary donations will not be much of a problem, as a lot of countries will be trying to outdo themselves in making pledges. But there goes the rub. Because pledges are not the same as cold hard cash.

In fact, a few years ago, when the Asian tsunami struck several countries bordering the Indian Ocean, a similar thing happened. Countries started making pledges as if pledges were running out of style.

Unfortunately, a great deal of the pledges remained what they were -- mere pledges. As the world moved on and the tsunami started fading into memory, so did many of the still unfulfilled pledges.

There is a great deal to be thankful for that many countries and peoples, despite their political, ideological and religious differences, can often come together as one global community ready and willing to come to the aid of a stricken member.

But natural calamities are no joking matter and it has to be impressed on some countries that, for the victims, there is no difference between pledges and available cash in that both inspire hope and willingness to hang on.

No greater tragedy can befall a people than to suffer loss and devastation then be buoyed by hope of coming aid and signs of human commiseration, only to realize a little later that the hope they nurtured was false. No greater disappointment is there than a broken promise.