The Great equalizer

The destructive impact of the Taal volcanic eruption continues to be felt, even in areas not directly blanketed by ash. The alert level is down to 3; the danger zone has been reduced in half; and people outside the smaller 7 km. radius have been allowed back in their homes. Still, almost 300,000 Batangueños remain in evacuation centers and other shelters.

But, next to the actual eruption and the footage of townsfolk evacuated, nothing distressed us more than the stark scenes of hapless residents from 15 towns/communities hankering to be allowed back, even at alert level 4. We are still processing what we witnessed: the brazen defiance of orders and directives clearly intended for their own safety and protection. Social contracts? Redraw them.

To be fair, tempers boiled over when the DILG lockdowns conflicted with inconsistent, PNP, Phivolcs and LGU pronouncements. In some instances, discretion was yielded to subordinate units; window hours permitted; exceptions allowed to what should have been strictly implemented orders.

These collateral acts magnified the tragedy for residents by adding insecurity to an already inconvenient situation. We know this to be one of the main arguments for finally establishing a Department of Disaster Resilience. Best if there were one Traffic cop only. 

Oido. Attention is always focused on what the community should do when emergencies strike and how to plan properly. But of the ones in charge, how do they drill and prepare for crisis leadership?

Beleaguered Taal Mayor Fulgencio “Pong” Mercado, doing a fine job, articulated one of the difficulties. Due to the urgency of evacuation (hours or minutes), the usual protocols fail. Only those that marched to the Municipal Hall were directed to evacuation centers. But when entire towns need to be relocated in a flash, to account for your constituents, its best if there are designated refuges for every town in the danger zone.  

The next domino. What about the refuge town’s absorptive quotient? This one reminds us of the inspirational story of towns like Gander in Newfoundland that found themselves hosting 6,595 passengers aboard 38 wide bodied Jumbo jets during the 9/11 cataclysm. With a population of a little over 9,000, these accidental heroes, without as much as a moment’s notice, were forced to host the international cast of refugees of the terrorist attack on New York and Washington. Canada bore the brunt of the responsibility to handle the diversion of all planes in the air, ruling out further potential destruction, and to ground them for containment/neutralization. Officially, it was captioned Operation Yellow Ribbon.

For 5five days, without planning and lacking in logistics, Gander rose to the challenge. They found ways to house and feed the stranded passengers, a small measure of comfort from fellow human beings to see them through the terrible ordeal of surrendering freedom and mobility as larger interests were sorted out. Credit to the hosts but equal credit should be given to the refugees, as well. 

The kind of PASAWAY mentality displayed during the Batangas lockdown by those residents (not all of them), led by leaders in crisis with reality, leaves us truly scared of how we would fare. Unlike Gander which had to cater to 6,595, a town like Agoncillo (still in lockdown) has a 45,000 thousand population. The logistical issues will be intense and, most certainly, will not be helped by people who refuse to be helped.

This January eruption has given a whole new meaning to our title “disaster prone” nation. The aftermath exposes how acutely unprepared we are for such emergencies. Years of relentless pounding from the elements and we’re still tentative in our reactions. Flood, typhoon and earthquake hazard drills are supposed to be regular now. The Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 requires that Disaster Risk Reduction be integrated in the curriculum. Its being done in the Grade School and Junior High School levels, embedded in science/technology courses. In Senior High School, the same is an independent subject. But we forgot about the volcanoes.

Prepare to be prepared. We are seeing in the Wuhan experience the extent to which larger communities are affected by an outbreak. Its not limited to Wuhan. Up to 46 million across 16 cities are quarantined in China. China has actually displayed remarkable forbearance and organizational poise. What we know may be limited to what is reported or in social media posts that no lockdown can really arrest. But what we’re seeing is a picture of how a nation that has incubated the last few scourges of mankind can marshal the requisite effort to also lead in the fight against these hazards.

Pandemic planning is another area to require training and reorientation. Challenges will be greater than what we confront in earthquake, typhoon, flood and even volcano scenarios. Health security will also include extensive compromises to privacy (e.g., in some instances, full disclosure of health histories) that we may not be prepared to permit. Again, the need to redraw social contracts.

Men in white. Rep. Joey Salceda presents another reliably sensible suggestion in establishing our very own Center for Disease Prevention and Control. This CDPC will be an independent agency providing us with a sense that there is a dedicated body focused on the health threats and not just the DOH tackling the same in addition to its broader public health agenda. 

Having a CDPC should foster more decisive action in emergency situations. As Cong. Salceda would have us envision, we, too, can have our own men in white hazmat suits to man the front line in treatment or surveillance. 

One area where guidance is critical is in navigating through the sea of information spreading at an alarming rate, with the hysteric, unsubstantiated or fake simply outpacing  the official and verified. Though the DOH may have its own official communication platforms, its clear that the public has its own mind when it comes to what it chooses to believe. Having a CPDC would go a long way toward making us pay better attention.