Four things we hope to have learned from Yolanda

Many of our traits as a people help us through disasters: the bayanihan spirit, the natural Filipino compassion, and resilience against adversity. Yet we must augment this with 21st century technology, and a proactive style of governance. 

 

One year after Yolanda, we hope to have transformed past mistakes to experiences and finally into learning. 

 

1. Disaster communication
 

To call a storm surge daluyong or tsunami is not THE problem. The important thing is for those to be affected be able to visualize the impact. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) calls this disaster imagination. 

 

The message may not necessarily be in the form of a fax message with the technical details of an approaching storm. It might be more effective to show a map of the areas to be flooded, photos and animation of how strong the winds will be, or even by relating it to a previous storm that passed by the area (e.g. kasing lakas ng bagyong Pablo noong 2012). Utilize traditional media and invade social media. By imagining the impact, an appropriate reaction from government officials and residents will not be far behind.

 

2. Relief goods pre-positioning

 

It took several days for external help to reach Yolanda’s worst hit areas. Trucks piled up in nearby ports and a long queue of vehicles carrying relief goods filled the narrow roads. Most of these seemed to be headed toward the same city despite the fact that the calamity was region-wide. Even worse, many of the trucks carried non-priority goods which just added to the congestion. 

 

One key learning we had from Yolanda is the importance of positioning personnel, equipment and food/medicine prior to a calamity. 

 

DOST’s Project NOAH is embarking on developing a software tool for this. 

 

Moreover, the concept of relief “waves” or prioritized external aid will be implemented by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Those who worked on the ground said relief waves should roughly follow:

Obviously, there is no room for politicians “touring” the damaged areas during the first few days of relief operations.

 

3. Strengthened LGU action
 

Based on our disaster risk reduction law, local government units (LGUs) remain as the first and primary responders to natural calamities. Thus, local capacity must be developed since national agencies and non-government groups should technically only serve as back-up to sustain rescue, relief and recovery operations. 

 

The soon-to-be launched Alpha-Bravo-Charlie Action System of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) should help in streamlining LGU preparedness. Moreover, the DILG and the League of Cities are developing a twinning program which works this way – when a town is completely devastated, the assigned partner town is activated to provide help. If an entire province is affected, the neighboring provinces are activated to provide the initial disaster response. 

 

4. Harnessing non-government initiatives
 

Once overwhelmed, the government will respond at a slower pace and become inefficient. In fact, in many instances during Yolanda, humanitarian organizations were the first to provide rescue and relief operations. Many groups have critical resources and expertise and most importantly are not slowed down by government bureaucracy: the national truckers’ association, private hospital doctor volunteers, local radio enthusiasts, service clubs (e.g. Rotary, Lions, etc.), 4x4 vehicle clubs, etc. 

 

Coordinating these individual efforts (an internet portal for relief tracking perhaps?) in terms of when they are activated and where they should be assigned will be a huge task. Yet, a directed effort from these groups will not only supplement government work but will be able to provide aid faster to those badly needing help. 


The author heads GMA News' IM Ready and Project NOAH-Climate X. He is also a professor of geology at the University of the Philippines, a member of the NDRRMC core group, and a member of the panel of experts of the Climate Change Commission. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of this website.