Earthquakes/typhoons: Forever our concern

The tragic natural disasters that the world has witnessed recently in the US, Mexico, and the Caribbean are a reminder to people throughout the Philippines that “there but for the grace of God go I.” Unfortunately, this has also spawned a rather fatalistic “bahala na” attitude to these acts of God. Which is why it might explain why despite our being in the firing line for a range of natural disasters – we are still ill-prepared for calamities on the magnitude of those that have recently visited the nations that have generated headlines in recent weeks.

The Filipinos are admired for their stoicism and keeping their humor after living through the latest onslaught of nature’s ire. In the wake of natural disasters, media coverage often praises the emergency response and focuses on heroic rescues and people rallying together. The authorities may be criticized on how the relief effort is being carried out. But there’s less discussion of how authorities prepared for and responded to the crisis, the ways in which the stricken area’s geography and development patterns may have contributed to the disaster, or the challenges they will face in recovering from them. Contrast this with public reaction to industrial disasters where they demand accountability and for heads to roll.

Preparation and prevention are key

The Mexican experience demonstrates the value of prevention and preparedness. In 1985, an earthquake struck Mexico resulting in 10,000 deaths and 30,000 buildings destroyed. Just two weeks ago, on the anniversary of that tragedy, another killer earthquake hit the country. But this time, 333 died (86 in Mexico City) and 3,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. This was a remarkable contrast to 1985. Ironically, this time there was an ongoing earthquake drill which, probably saved thousands.

With prevention in mind after the 1985 quake, a new building code was enacted which is considered one of the strictest in the world. Moreover, the need for preparedness led them to install a national earthquake warning system was developed which has since been copied by Japan, Taiwan and Romania. Taking advantage of the ubiquity of mobile phones, text messages were sent and it is estimated that hundreds of thousands may have been saved. The system also includes speakers strategically installed in public places that call out the words, “Alerta sismica!” in order to give citizens a few seconds to find safe places and trigger protocols.

The disasters in the nations of the Caribbean have also shown that effective hurricane warnings and stockpiles of supplies, equipment, and medicines, can save lives but at the end of the day it is up to everyone – government at all levels, civil society, and families themselves – to ensure that nations are prepared for the onslaught of these storms.

To be sure, there are many government agencies at the local, regional, and national levels, not-for-profit organizations and members of the business community that are focused on disaster preparedness and relief in various parts of the Philippines. But these efforts are running on parallel tracks with little efforts to complement concurrent disaster prevention activities. For the last four years, there has been an effort to merge into one organization together with the government sector and it is starting to yield important results.

To paraphrase the UN Office for Disaster Reduction, resilience is defined as the ability of a system, community or society exposed to natural disasters to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of that disaster. It was the expressed intention of the conference on “Building a Disaster Resilient Philippines” held last April 25-26 to align and possibly integrate some of these disaster prevention, preparedness and relief endeavors on the same track in order for us not just to bounce back, but also to make sure we can bounce forward. A major outcome was the agreement to establish the National Resilience Council (NRC).

On Sept. 19, the NRC was officially organized. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana was named co-chair for the government and Hans T. Sy of SM Group was named co-chair for the private sector. Antonia Yulo- Loyzaga was appointed president and Malu Erni as executive-director. Four vice-chairs were appointed to represent government, private sector, science/academe and CSO’s.

The NRC aims to align these various efforts by creating new opportunities for the private sector, the science and technology community and civil society to join forces with local and national government in strengthening disaster risk governance and investing in resilience. These efforts would be localized and evidence-based, meaning they would be designed to decrease both the pre-existing and potential exposure and vulnerability of the economy, environment and communities. They will focus on building needed institutional capacities through multi-stakeholder collaboration.

Resilient cities

Among the key initiatives of the NRC will be the promotion of a program to create Resilient Cities. These are based on multi-stakeholder, trans-disciplinary and integrated approaches in the context of the country’s exposure and vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change.

The Resilient Cities program was pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation’s Resilient Cities program. The program is dedicated to helping cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century. It supports the adoption and incorporation of a view of resilience that includes not just the shocks—earthquakes, fires, floods, etc.—but also the stresses that weaken the fabric of a city on a day to day or cyclical basis. Examples of these stresses include high unemployment; an overtaxed or inefficient public transportation system; endemic violence; or chronic food and water shortages. By addressing both the shocks and the stresses, a city becomes more able to respond to adverse events, and is overall better able to deliver basic functions in both good times and bad, to all populations.

In close collaboration with the Department of Interior and Local Government, the NRC will also look at developing a Philippine Disaster Resilience Scorecard for local governments and the Leadership Resiliency Program for the local chief executives (LCE) and LGU officials. All of this is designed to reward success and help participant cities and their officials adopt best global disaster risk reduction and resilience practices. Capacity building training will be required for local chief executives and other officials. The success of the resilience scorecard will be dependent on how the LCEs practice what they learn.

In his second State of the Nation Address, President Duterte said: “I am directing the Cabinet cluster on climate change adaptation and disaster risk management to immediately work hand in hand with the concerned LGUS, the private sector and the affected communities themselves in undertaking disaster (resiliency) measures.” Upon the creation of a separate department by Congress, the NRC will provide a supporting role. There is much work to be done and, as the events in the US, Mexico and the Caribbean have shown, we must move quickly to enhance our nation’s resilience.