Cebu not ready for another Yolanda

CEBU, Philippines - The head of the provincial government’s post-typhoon rehabilitation efforts admits that Cebu is not ready for another weather disturbance as strong as Yolanda.

 â€œIf there’s another Yolanda coming tomorrow, Cebu is not ready yet,” said Baltazar Tribunalo, head of Capitol’s Task Force Paglig-on following last Friday’s “Understanding Vulnerabilities” forum.

The forum was aimed at letting the public understand and be prepared for disasters.

Tribunalo said that for the province to be ready or at least reduce risk during a disaster, discipline and awareness are important factors to consider and be practiced at the household level.

For example, he said, considering that garbage is one of the common causes of flooding, waste management becomes imperative for every household.

Tribunalo said people normally “would focus on the hazards, but do we realize our vulnerability?”

He acknowledged that even with awareness of the risks involved – for example, those who continue to live in no-build zones – people are left with no choice but to continue facing the risks because they have no other place to go.

This is the reason why, he said, one of the objectives of Task Force Paglig-on is to put long term solutions in place. One of the solutions, albeit a very long shot, is to solve the problem of poverty so that there will be no more dwellings along the coastlines and riverbanks, and increase capacity of the people to understand that there is already the “new normal”, Tribunalo said.

The forum, he said, provided a platform for those who are in the know to help realize this vision, he said.

  The four-part forum is being organized by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. precisely for the province to be aware of its vulnerabilities following its experiences with the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in October and subsequently with typhoon Yolanda in November last year. — (FREEMAN)