EDITORIAL — Have we built back better?

This Nov. 8, the nation marked 13 years since Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated large swaths of Eastern Visayas, leaving about 6,300 people confirmed dead, over a thousand more missing and millions displaced.

In the aftermath of the typhoon, there was a clear need to improve government response to extreme weather disturbances. The base for improvement was low, with the government getting heavy flak at the time for its dazed, disorganized response.

Fortunately, the international community quickly pitched in, sending not only rescue and recovery teams as well as special aircraft but also providing most of the basic needs of the displaced people – from food, water and temporary shelter to emergency health care, electricity and telecommunications connectivity.

With even coconut and banana plantations flattened by Yolanda’s powerful storm surge, everyone knew reconstruction and recovery would be long and difficult.

There was a lot of talk about building back better, of building for resilience. With international aid donors watching, these ideals were presumably incorporated in the rebuilding of critical infrastructure particularly in hard-hit Tacloban City.

Last Oct. 7 marked the official reopening of the Felipe Abrigo Memorial Hospital in Guiuan, Eastern Samar – the place where Yolanda first made landfall. The hospital was completely leveled by Yolanda, and was rebuilt at a cost of P858.54 million by the national and local governments with support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency.

Businessmen in Tacloban say their sector has fully recovered. Like their peers in other parts of the country, however, they want a more business-friendly environment to stimulate economic activities and sustain further development.

Permanent government housing and resettlement from areas declared as hazardous no-build zones also remain incomplete. The Commission on Audit recently flagged long delayed and incomplete housing infrastructure  for those displaced by Yolanda.

Extreme weather has become increasingly common worldwide because of climate change. Another Yolanda is a consistent possibility in the Philippines, tagged by scientists as the world’s most disaster-prone country because of its location, topography and social vulnerabilities.

The lessons from Yolanda must not be forgotten, and the moves to develop climate resilience, build back better and boost disaster response must be applied nationwide.