One doesn’t need to read through the entire Commission on Audit’s (COA) report “Assessment of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management at the Local Level,” to know that patronage politics continues to be the major hindrance to disaster relief and rehabilitation programs.
The COA report confirms it: “As a result of patronage, decisions are based on electoral considerations rather than on evidence of technical assessments. This results in under-investment in vital national level infrastructure projects and the concurrent sourcing of micro-level projects.”
Typhoon Yolanda and last year’s Bohol earthquake were good examples.
Were it not for news coverage from CNN’s Anderson Cooper and the national media, Tacloban wouldn’t have received such waves of financial and material assistance from foreign and domestic organizations.
While the generosity was overwhelming, no thanks to the feud between Tacloban City Mayor Alfredo Rodriguez and Interior and Local Governments Secretary, it was detrimental to other LGUs who had to scrounge for scraps that fell from the Tacloban’s table.
Private sector volunteers and givers stepped up for a task that was overwhelming in scope.
Much could have been done better in coordinating with local governments the task of identifying and reaching beneficiaries.
The Aquino administration wasted time blaming local officials for failing to prepare their constituents for calamities when it could have poured that energy into more mobilization of agencies to swiftly respond to the needs of the victims.
While the COA report is right in laying blame on the DILG’s doorsteps for failing to use 96 percent of its resources to help calamity victims, local officials should not use this as an excuse to cover up their failure to undertake serious disaster risk reduction and management initiatives.
Look at a small islet like Kinatarkan, Sta. Fe town in north Cebu. How could it manage to survive Yolanda’s wrath with meager resources compared to bigger towns with heir community-based organizations to rely on?
The private sector which did a heroic job of distributing relief aid to afflicted towns in northern Cebu has to continue helping poor towns get back on their feet because recovery is a longer cycle than the myopic three-year terms of elected local officials.
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