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In a Kapihan forum last week, the provincial coordinator of the Office of Civil Defense, Allen Cabaron, lamented the lack of interest among many heads of local government units in Negros Oriental to set up a disaster risk reduction and management plan, or allocate a budget for it.
“There is not enough enthusiasm,” Cabaron said.
This may explain why when disasters strike, we still have many victims or deaths. The Philippines ranks 8th in the mortality risk index of 222 countries. As an interesting footnote, it appears that the faces that you see at the evacuation centers in Negros Oriental whenever the floods come are the same faces that keep coming back year after year. No one seemed to learn a lesson here.
Compare our damage reports with the Province of Albay and you’ll be in for a big surprise. Albay, which is the doormat of almost every typhoon to hit the country, has a very effective disaster risk reduction program which even won an international award.
“Mitigation of risks is a duty…it is an exercise of political will,” Salceda said in a recent forum with environmental journalists in Manila.
The secret of an effective disaster mitigation program is in social preparation. “It’s as normal as brushing one’s teeth. In Albay, when rains fall, people automatically bring out their disaster preparedness kits.”
In Metro Manila, at the height of Typhoon Ondoy, people went up their roofs without flashlights, water or food. “People should know how to act whenever disaster strikes. Drivers, for instance, should not force their cars across flooded streets,” Salceda said. Indeed, disaster risk management is no rocket science. It’s so reasonable and it’s science-based.
So why is this program getting a cold shoulder from many mayors, not just in the province but throughout the country?
“Wala silang makukuha, eh!” Salceda said.
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