The apprehension we felt these last few days brought by typhoon Urduja has been addressed quite innovatively by Talisay City under Mayor Eduardo Gullas.
Let me explain what I refer to as "apprehension". The Visayas went through two super typhoons in under two decades. The first was Ruping that damaged 85 percent of Cebu's structures and the second was Yolanda which devastated the Visayas. Before Yolanda struck, storm surges were not yet fully understood. That and the strength of Yolanda brought destruction we never imagined. Since then, each time PAGASA forecasts an impending storm, memories of how Yolanda killed 7,000 people and wrecked homes, bring us an unbelievable degree of apprehension.
We saw the inability of government to being relief. Both national government and local government units were in disarray. They could not organize any response. Help from them did not arrive fast. It was understandable because, as subsequent studies revealed, the supposed responders were also victims. Charity begins at home became the rule. Coordination was, in most cases, impossible.
The Talisay City leadership learned from Yolanda and Gullas didn't want the city unprepared for any disaster. Immediately after taking oath in 2016, he wanted to build a structure where all first responders to calamities are housed together at the least cost to city coffers. Putting together the police, health personnel, social workers, rescue units, and firefighters under one roof became the mayor's foremost concern. To him, it would be easier to respond to emergencies if all agencies were within one another's shouting distance.
Even if the vice mayor and all but one of the city councilors belong to his party, they are more political animals rather than concerned public servants, such that Gullas was not sure they would understand the need for such a building. Neither would they have any idea how to build the center without depleting the city's funds. Using his imagination and his relationship with the Aboitiz Family, Gullas encouraged then to construct the command center which was inaugurated last week.
We feel that Talisay City, with all of its emergency response teams capable of close coordination, has an advantage in meeting the challenges of calamities compared to other local government units whose various agencies are housed in disparate areas. I know that these other LGUs have modern technology to use, but nature's fury has its unforeseen way to render them useless in times they are most needed. It is in the interest of the public to follow Talisay City's example. Cebu City, for instance, has to replicate what Talisay City has accomplished, and more.
The Aboitiz Family built at their own expense the Talisay City Command Center. Such benevolence was anchored on the good relations between Gullas and Aboitiz Family. In Cebu City, there are also high-financed corporations and super-rich families willing to demonstrate their social responsibilities. Indeed, my lady, when she was a part of Barangay Kasambagan government, convinced the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. to construct its day-care center. These corporations and wealthy families can be encouraged to build bigger facilities and for more comprehensive concepts than the Talisay City Command Center. All Mayor Tomas Osmeña has to do is to shed his bullying ways.