The Philippines commonly surfaces as one of the countries with high vulnerability to natural disasters due to its geographic position. In the last decade, thousands of lives were lost, millions of people were displaced and the economy suffered repeatedly from billions of damages. While the Filipino social resilience has long shown its irrefutability, significant gaps exist in the country’s approach towards its disaster risk reduction and preparedness to this day.
Despite the long standing fact of our highly prone conditions, the Philippine institutional arrangements and disaster management system still lacks the initiative to fortify its structure and programs towards an effective, proactive and sustainable working arm. The comprehensive bouts of the country’s disaster risk reduction framework are weakly defined and furthermore, its integration to institutions down to the household scene is nowhere to be seen. How do we determine good governance in times of natural disasters? The United Nations (UN) listed three things to measure good disaster risk governance which are (1) lives saved, (2) reduced numbers of disaster-affected people and (3) reduced economic losses. Until now, it is disappointing that we are highly reliant on international aids, and different local and international organization efforts for support.
On October 1st, the Philippines was ranked as the 20th country with the most coronavirus cases in the world. This leap of event only emphasized that the truest form of risk we are faced with is not limited to typhoons, earthquakes, floods, landslides, and droughts alone but it also encompasses zoonotic diseases such as the COVID-19. Until now, the government continues to show its incompetence and lack of priorities by
denying the need for mass testing and further strengthening our health system.
In celebration of International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction all about good governance, we must stand together to continuously demand the government for accountability and responsibility to step up and strengthen the country’s response towards different natural disasters especially in this time of pandemic. It is not the time to remain complacent despite the increasing recovery rate. Genuine resilience is not measured on how far the Philippines and our fellow countrymen can endure the repercussions of a disaster but on our capacity to improve our preparation, equipping and empowerment of the whole system before the next disaster hits.
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