EDITORIAL - In a panic, nobody is in control

A sidebar to the story of a fire in Mambaling that left more than a hundred families homeless was the panic that descended on a nearby school. According to accounts, children rushed out of their classrooms on hearing sirens and the shouts of fire from people. Their parents, on the other hand, rushed to school expecting the worse.

There is no blame game that ought to be played here. Children will always be children. And parents will always be parents. But wasn't there supposed to be some type of disaster or emergency plan that would kick in in just such a situation? What happened to all those disaster preparedness dryruns and practices that people have been treated to every now and then?

It now seems that what the Mambaling fire has proven is that no prearranged disaster or emergency plan works in a panic. And if no such plan works then all the money spent to conduct all those dryruns and practices might be better spent elsewhere where better results are assured. In fact, it is a lucky thing nobody got hurt in the ensuing chaos, or there would really be hell to pay.

It has to be conceded that it is difficult to keep a clear head in an emergency. But that is precisely the point for all those disaster preparedness and emergency dryruns and practices -- to allow people, especially persons in authority, to maintain a certain degree of level-headedness in order to avoid panic and save lives.

That did not happen in the Mambaling school. Evidence of level-headedness was nowhere in sight. Nobody appeared to be in command of the situation. Nobody took up the job of ensuring a quick but controlled and orderly evacuation. Again it is thankfully providential that nobody got injured, especially the little schoolchildren who started running pell mell here and there.

Since the school was in panic, the teachers and school administrators obviously lost control early on, or worse, were never in control to begin with. And since parents came crashing into the school in a mad dash to look for their children, it was also obvious there were no barangay officials to stay on top and take charge of the situation. It was everyone for himself.

In a barangay, there are supposed to be a lot of peace, security and disaster control officers. And any number of them normally would be posted in sensitive areas of concern such as a school. The big question now is were they there? And if they were there, what were they doing under the circumstances. All accounts of what happened at the school were one in describing the situation as a panic. And panic means nobody is in control.