Aklan’s Disaster Preparedness
It Must Be ‘Reactive Instead of Proactive’
by Recto I. Vidal
The government has always been on a reactive mode instead of being proactive, and thus the suffering of the people continues during times of disasters.
This was the general assessment offered by former Aklan Rep. Allen S. Quimpo during a recent Kapehan sa Aklan, a media forum held at the Kusina sa Kalibo every Saturday.
Quimpo, who is currently the action officer of Taskforce Bangon Aklan, stressed the need for a public safety office in the province to address this concern.
He said the installation of the modern water gauge on several flood prone towns in Aklan is on the way. These gadgets will be used to monitor rising water levels during heavy rains.
The Philippines might be visited by 15 more typhoons in the remaining months of this year, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
It is not only typhoons that call for preparedness but also other hydro-meteorological hazards such as heavy and continuous rains, thunder-storms, cold fronts, easterly waves, intertropical convergent zones and tropical cyclones.
The Bicol region, particularly Albay province which is very prone to these weather disasters, including Mayon volcano’s lahar, has put all preparedness measures in place, especially during floods and landslides that also occur amid mere heavy and continuous rains.
Bicol, which is closely similar to Batanes Islands when it comes to typhoons, need to prepare not only during typhoon season but also on a 365-day-a-year basis.
When there is typhoon, however, the people of Albay are no longer afraid because they have been trained to prepare themselves on the basis of the preemptive measures.
Albay is host to cloud formations that bring rains even without warnings.
Warnings are there in the events of typhoons but during rains, it is built-in initiative of the people of Albay that guides them against these hazards.
Therefore, it is imperative that the government should build permanent evacuation centers. We all know that Aklan is one of the provinces usually hardest hit by typhoons thus vital infrastructure should be reinforced before the rains come.
Experience tells us that repairing destroyed infrastructure are more expensive than building infrastructure that could withstand the onslaught of typhoons.
It has been proven time and again that using schools, basketball courts and municipal halls as evacuation centers further disrupt people’s lives.
Rather than selectively handling doleouts to LGU’s during typhoon season, the government should take a long term view and channel funds to reinforce school buildings, power lines, public markets, bridges and other vital infrastructure.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development is called to ensure sufficient relief goods and available personnel for disasters.
It is a must that the government automatically augments the calamity funds of all LGUs in typhoon areas yearly so that they can act right away in times of urgent need.
Measures to protect people during calamities should have been implemented by the national government long before global warming became a fashionable catch phrase.
In Naga, the city government has put in place innovative systems and mechanisms directly addres-sing problems brought by typhoons and flooding.
These include linking up with the private sector to gather more weather data, aside from those coming from the PAGASA.
Much as it wants to have storm-resistant infrastructures, however, the funds are not enough to make it possible.
Albay is already implementing permanent relocation, safe evacuation centers, safe schools, and now safe hospitals. /MP
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