The Philippines is a perennial whipping boy of natural catastrophes. Each year, for example, the country is inundated by an average of 20 typhoons. None of these typhoons is your typical rainshower; since they are formed mostly from the untamed waters of the Pacific, these typhoons pack a punch in terms of wind strength and volume of rain. In fact, some of the most devastating storms in recorded history were those that struck the Philippines.
As such, Filipinos bear witness to the annual sight of human casualties, floodings, landslides and mudslides, destruction of agricultural crops, forced evacuations, and damaged infrastructure, particularly during the monsoon season sometime between the end of May and October, at times lasting until December.
But these fierce typhoons form only a part of the sum of natural calamities Filipinos have to deal with; year-round, Filipinos also need to protect themselves from earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, droughts, pest infestations, and occasional thunderstorms.
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So while it may be true that the Philippines is home to some of the most stunning natural wonders on the planet (perfect cone volcano, underground river, pristine white sand beaches, rich flora and fauna), it is also a country prone to the most fatal natural disasters. As if to underscore this sad fact, numerous international studies have dubbed the Philippines as "the most dangerous land on the planet."
RESILIENT OR HOPELESS?
For a country faced yearly with more than its fair share of natural disasters, one would think that Filipinos will be more or less able to adapt to their situation and be fully capable of preventing damage to lives and properties on the occasion of each calamity.
Sadly, the reverse is true: the news cycle every year remains constant, with news of deaths, floodings, and damage to crops and properties remaining a fixture in 6 o'clock news each time a disaster strikes.
There are several reasons that may be attributed to this, including some systemic and institutional problems that have been left to fester. These are:
(a) Lack of institutional support for disaster risk-reduction.
In a country riveted by the incessant toxicity of personality politics and cult-like following of showbiz figures, disaster risk-reduction is simply not a priority. Departments and bureaus tasked with weather forecasts, for example, have to make do with a dismal operating budget.
(b) Lack of long-term planning to mitigate the adverse effects of calamities.
Geo-hazard maps are a basic guide in determining high-risk areas, but until recently, they have been rarely used in the Philippines. It is obvious that disaster management in the country is knee-jerk rather than planned.
(c) Poor implementation of existing safety codes and regulations.
The ineptitude of bureaucrats is partly to blame for the lackadaisical enforcement of laws in the Philippines. The rest is attributed to some Filipinos who resort to ineffective band aid solutions in doing things -- either in building their homes or in solving problems.
(d) Bureaucratic inefficiency.
There have been many times when reports were made of government inefficiency resulting in damage to thousands of sacks of rice, wastage of tons of donated food items for people displaced by disasters, and late to non-existent delivery of rescue and other social services.
(e) Graft and corruption.
The Philippines breeds the worst kind of political leaders -- the sort who are corrupt, violent, bereft of socialist principles, hardly attuned to the needs of their constituencies, and irredeemably hopeless.
With corruption deeply rooted in government -- from the lowliest of clerks to big-wigs in Malacanang -- it's hard to get any program or project implemented going without spotting loopholes or leaks where funds sourced from people's taxes are siphoned off for the benefit of a few. The results are incomplete and sub-par infrastructure, ghost projects, ghost beneficiaries, bloated costs, and just sheer waste of money.
These reasons highlight the need for a radical overhaul of the way the Philippines conducts disaster risk prevention and management. Unless this overhaul is done sooner than later, the same news cycle of deaths, floodings, landslides, and damages to agriculture and property is going to remain tragically unchanged for a long time yet.