Task Force Paglig-on chief Baltazar Tribunalo yesterday welcomed rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson’s admission that Kinatarcan island in north Cebu was overlooked in the governnment’s Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan.
He said it helps focus attention on other islands devastated by supertyphoon Yolanda that also needed help.
“Whether Kinatarcan, Butigis in Bantayan, Pilar, or Tulang Diyot in San Francisco, it is more or less the same situation. It was just that Kinatarcan was singled out,” Tribunalo told reporters yesterday.
However, Tribunalo said Kinatarcan island has not been excluded from the rehabilitation plan the province submitted to the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR).
Tribunalo said when he visited Kinatarcan in late July following the appearance of a sinkhole in barangay Langub, some people were already living in temporary makeshift shelters, though most of them still lived in tents.
“There are things happening. Maybe the pace isn’t the same in each place, but everything is already in the list. It’s just that things are going slowly,” Tribunalo said.
Better
Tribunalo said the provincial government distributed housing materials, like galvanized iron roof sheets to residents.
Although these island residents continue to complain about the slow progress of government, he said their situation now is clearly better than during the first few months following Yolanda.
“We’ve already crossed the emergency level. Nobody will die, nobody will get sick just because no help from the national government arrived yet. Whether or not it will come, Cebuanos will find ways to live,” he said.
During his trip to Bogo City last Sunday, Lacson admitted that he just recently found out about Kinatarcan island and how national government aid has not reached the area yet.
Bigger picture
This prompted the rehabilitation czar to send a staff to do a census of 4,000 residents living there.
“We have become myopic. We’re so focused on rehabilitation and recovery in Cebu that we have forgotten more disasters will still come,” Tribunalo said.
He said Yolanda is a snapshot while disasters in general and climate change are the bigger picture.
Tribunalo said the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) and the Cebu provincial government placed a premium on adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
While authorities are busy with rehabilitation and recovery, emphasis must also be placed on climate change adaptation, he said.
Action plan
Tribunalo said those most vulnerable to disasters are fishermen, farmers and the poor community.
In response to the rising need for adaptation, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) mandated every local government unit to formulate a Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP).
The very first local government to submit a climate change action plan was the municipality of San Francisco, Camotes Island.
Tribunalo said Cebu as a province and San Francisco as an LGU are leading in terms of compliance to the DILG mandate.
“We are so focused on rehabilitation and recovery, but more islands will be ‘left out’ if we’re not ready for the next big disaster,” he said.
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