The country has been shaken, swept by a storm surge and pummeled by winds with Formula 1 race car speeds, but have our disaster managers really learned from all this?
Baltazar Tribunal, head of the Capitol’s Task Force Paglig-on, probably had a rude awakening when he found out that only one out of 51 towns and component cities in Cebu province, has an honest-to-goodness Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.
On paper, each locality has one, but not the kind that meets standards set by Republic Act 10121 or the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010.
The lone town of San Francisco in the Camotes Islands has been hailed as a global champion in disaster resilience. Its former mayor Al Arquillano is looked up to as a model in disaster risk reduction and management. The zero deaths and low figures of damage after supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in San Francisco was proof of their worth. What happens to the other 50 localities when the next calamity comes along?
Cebu City provides some comic relief in the bad habit of token response.
The City Council on Wednesday declared a ‘State of Preparedness’ for the arrival of El Niño next month.
Big words.
Look again at the city’s response to the cold spell which affected upland farms in January. These areas have yet to receive disaster aid worth P2.2 million allocated for farmers suffering crop and livestock damage. From that chilly January, we enter the steaming months of summer and an even hotter El Niño. How ready are we really?
The goal of the DRMM Act of 2010 was to start a paradigm shift in mindset from being reactive to pro-active about disasters.
National policy staked a shift on being truly prepared, and not just being able to roll out rescue and relief operations after a disaster strikes.
Declaring a “state of preparedness” for a calamity is not just redundant, it may actually mean unpreparedness.
Setting up a DRRM office and appointing a DRRM officer for the sake of paper compliance is a token gesture. The law mandates that at least 5 percent of a local government’s income should be appropriated for disaster risk reduction and management.
So how are LGUs really using this standy fund? This needs to be looked into closer.
Previous tragedies offer us many lessons about early warning, preparation and response. With more superstorms expected, the last thing we need is settling for a ‘pwede na’ attitude.