Not a cure-all

Super typhoons have struck our country one after the other these past two weeks, the latest of which was Tino. Badly devastated was Cebu, Negros and several other provinces in the Visayas where Tino unleashed winds that moved waves of seawater and rains of enormous volume. But we are not seeing an end yet to typhoon visits in the Philippines.

By estimation of our weather experts, our country gets an average of 20 or so typhoon visits. Tino was the 20th typhoon this year as per latest count of our Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

So by the law of averages, the Philippines has already reached its quota, typhoon-wise.

Not so, said Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Renato Solidum Jr., who supervises PAGASA as one of its attached agencies. For almost four decades of working at the DOST, Solidum has the historical background to assert with certainty we will have to continue to brace for more typhoon visits, more than the average of 20.

The fact is, Solidum cited, the Philippines just started last month the long wet period called the La Niña phenomenon. Its opposite is the El Niño, or the long dry spell. Long before “climate change” became popular buzzwords, these two seasons in our country were simply known by the Spanish words for “little boy” and “little girl,” respectively – dry for long hot summer months, and wet or long days of rainy weather.

“We are on a ‘La Niña Alert’ from October to December 2025 and may persist from December 2025 to February 2026,” Solidum pointed out.

“Historically, La Niña condition is characterized by above-average number of tropical cyclone occurrences towards the end of the year,” Solidum went to explain.

The last super typhoon Uwan that just cut through the Philippine area of responsibility, or PAR for short, became No. 21. So, we’re past the average and we still have to brace ourselves for more typhoons to develop at any time. “We have to closely monitor and be vigilant. Essentially the warmer waters of the Pacific are closer to the western side, hence the higher tendency for tropical cyclones to enter PAR and make landfall,” Solidum warned.

As of last official count by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), total death toll reported related to the devastation of Tino (or Kalmaegi as its international name) stood at 224 as of last count. From Super Typhoon Yolanda (or Haiyan) in November 2013 to Tropical storm Ondoy (or Ketsana) in September 2009, these “killer” typhoon names have been erased and are best forgotten. In comparison to other past super typhoons, we only recall the typhoon names because of the tragic number of people they killed due to landslides, flashfloods and storm surges.

Solidum defined a “storm surge” as the rapid rise of seawater as it is pushed onshore by strong winds due to storms. Flashflood, on the other hand, is the rapid rise of water in a river channel, or the extreme flow of water over normally dry land, often due to heavy rainfall.

Only the weather experts know the differences of these natural calamity events. But as far as public safety is concerned, preemptive evacuation of people living in vulnerable areas is part of the over-all pre-disaster measures supposedly put in place by local government units (LGUs). The primary goal is zero-casualty; one death is one death too many.

And we could only remember when President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos (PBBM) muttered his profuse apology for the high number of fatalities in the Cebu flashfloods wrought by Typhoon Tino. PBBM told reporters after a situation briefing at the Cebu capitol: “We are very, very sorry. We are all sad because our casualty figures are very high.”

But at the national level, credit must be given to the preparedness of government disaster response agencies, all hands were on deck. Blame games were temporarily suspended. We still cannot forget the failure of disaster-mitigating measures from reported “ghost” flood control projects to substandard public infrastructure facilities such as bridges that got eroded and gave in to the flashfloods. Lives and properties were lost forever.

Incidentally, “By authority of the President,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin suspended work in all government offices last Monday, based on the “forecasted impacts that will be brought about by Super Typhoon Uwan” in Metro Manila and the rest of the provinces along its path.

By Proclamation 1077 signed also by Bersamin, the President declared a one-year state of national calamity in the aftermath of Tino. Based on the recommendation of the NDRRMC, a state of national calamity declaration will hasten the rescue, recovery, relief and rehabilitation operations in all disaster-stricken areas around the country. The state of national calamity shall remain in force and effect unless earlier lifted by the President.

After a month-long Undas recess, the Senate and the House of Representatives suspended resumption of their sessions scheduled last Monday due to the anticipated inclement weather conditions spawned by Uwan.

But even before they resume sessions, lawmakers naturally started mouthing laws are needed to strengthen the government’s capability to immediately address disasters and calamities. Among which legislative measures being revived are several House bills (HB) seeking to institutionalize the University of the Philippines National Climate and Resilience Institute (UP-NCRI).

Our flood control program should be science-based and should use nature-based solutions like reforestation and not just infrastructure projects where most of the public funds get wasted, if not corrupted.

Filed individually and separately by neophyte, next-generation congressmen from political dynasties, the proposed new law is strongly endorsed by Dr. Mahar Lagmay, executive director of Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH) center director. The DOST launched Project UP-NOAH in 2012 but discontinued it in 2017 allegedly due to lack of funds. It served as accurate and accessible disaster data center amid climate change and extreme weather events like super typhoons.

Legislation is not the cure-all remedies to these problems. For now, it’s good enough for soundbytes and public optics.