Dili pa gyod ko makasulti ug maayo kabahin sa akong eksperyensya, Ma’am (I still could not talk about my experience),” said a mother of a four-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who was almost swept away by the flood of Dec. 17.
“Nabulag akong anak sa iyang mga igsoon. Maayo gani kay nakit-an siya sa among silingan ug gipasaka siya sa atop. Ug samtang siya naglantaw sa baha, niingon siya, ‘Wa’ na, patay na gyod ko ani. ‘Di na kakita nako si Mama (My son got separated from his brothers. It was fortunate he was seen by a neighbor who helped him climb up the roof. While he was watching the flood, he was saying, ‘I am going to die here; Mama will not see me anymore),” narrated another mother about the experience of her 10-year-old son with mental retardation.
“Nahadlok gyod kaayo akong anak sa linog. Nagkuba-kuba gyod iyang dughan maskin pagkahuman na ug nakauli na mi sa balay. Hangtod karon, mora pa gihapon siya ug matanga ug kalit. Wa man niyanang batasana sa una sa wa pay linog (My son was scared of the earthquake. His heart was beating so fast even when we were back at home. Until now, he would suddenly stare off into space. He did not exhibit this behavior before the earthquake),” yet another mother told about her eight-year-old son who has autism.
“Nagsuka gyod akong bata pagkagabii human sa linog. Karon, sa di pa mi manga-on, iya nang lili-on ang ilalom sa lamesa ug wala ba gauyog (My son vomited the night after the earthquake. These days, he would check under the table before we eat to see if it is not shaking),“ stated another one of the mothers about her six-year-old son with mental retardation.
The most vulnerable groups during crisis events are children, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities (PWDs). Photographs of (mostly) old people in wheelchairs who are being helped by their families, neighbors or rescuers, during a typhoon or an earthquake never fail to haunt us. Video footages show old people lying on the ground, injured, wounded or too weak to move.
One of the most moving postings on YouTube after typhoon Sendong was that of a blind old man who was tearfully recounting his experience as a sightless victim of a calamity that he, at first, did not understand.
Yet, we have not seen pictures, at least locally, of children and youth with Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, of twisted emaciated bodies that are synonymous with disability. Blind children… how did they cope with the disasters that struck the City?
All the more, the children with unseen disabilities — those with autism, mental retardation, the deaf — were indeed unseen during the crises events. Even those with mental illness who may have been kept in little rooms or shacks by their families — how did they escape injury or death?
As always, PWDs and children with disabilities (CWDs) always come last, even during calamities.
After the twin tragedies that have hit Negros Oriental, it is about time we seriously think about the implication of the Philippines’ rating as No. 3 among the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change.
This means there will be more calamities, more floods, typhoons, earthquakes in the future for us. If we do not prepare ourselves for these events, there will be unnecessary loss of lives, just like what happened recently.
As our local government strengthens its disaster risk reduction efforts, it should also bear in mind the needs of its most vulnerable populations: the children, the elderly, and, most importantly, the PWDs.
The vulnerability of these groups to the disastrous and life-threatening effects of natural disasters cannot be undermined. There is, therefore, a need to mainstream disability into the existing disaster risk- reduction programs of the local government units.
Disaster risk-reduction concerns the whole community, including the vulnerable groups.
It is, thus, about time that we all start thinking of inclusive disaster risk- reduction management: how to make sure that the blind will be able to get out of their homes before it gets dangerously flooded; how to ensure that the deaf will know how to respond to siren warnings; how to get children with autism or those with mental problems to safety without them getting violent.
The whole idea of mainstreaming is further supported by international agreements such as the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action (Strategy 23), an Asia and Pacific Region policy framework for an inclusive, barrier-free, and rights-based society for PWD; the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (Article 11), an international instrument that was ratified by the Philippines in April 2008; and Republic Act 10121 or the Philippines Disaster Risk- Reduction & Management Act of 2010 which defines “vulnerable and marginalized groups” as “those who face higher exposure to disaster risks and poverty including, but not limited to women, children, elderly, differently- abled people, and ethnic minorities.”
How is this done? An inclusive and comprehensive approach to the reduction of disaster vulnerabilities requires, first and foremost, the participation of the PWDs, and other vulnerable groups, as they are theexperts in identifying their needs.
The whole disaster risk-reduction processes should involve the PWDs, right from their identification to planning to the vulnerability and capacity assessments to the development of inclusive early-warning systems.
Rescue and rehabilitation efforts should also take into consideration the particularities of PWDs to ensure that the responses are proper and appropriate.
But all these can only take place once society, and even government, go beyond the traditional view of PWDs as only passive recipients of services.
An inclusive society is one where the needs of each member are not just perceived as mere needs, but as rights that all people, regardless of ability, are entitled to.
And the time for that is now.
