At least 34 people were reported killed in Metro Manila, northern and central Luzon while infrastructure damage hit the P9.49 billion rung, which impacted Regions 1, 2, 3, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Regions 4A, 4B, 5, 6, 10, and Negros Island Region.
In this country which averages 20 typhoons a year, more than a dozen storms are still expected to exhale their wrath as they move, separately, westward from the Pacific Ocean and slam a large corridor on the country’s eastern seaboard, threatening nearly 67,000 farmers and fisherfolk still reeling from the shock inflicted by Crising, Dante and Emong.
Positioned along the “typhoon belt” and within the Pacific Ring of Fire, this nation of 117 million has become exceedingly exposed to calamitous events, including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, typhoons, floodwaters, and landslides.
As though it was not enough a misfortune to have to average 20 typhoons each year, the country is often on its toes due to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions with 24 active volcanoes.
These 24, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, put this archipelagic country under frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
The Philippines experiences a multitude of natural disasters annually, resulting in an average of over 1,000 deaths per year from earthquakes, floods, landslides, and other natural hazards.
Between 1990 and 2006, the country saw an average of 1,230 deaths per year from 520 disasters. A more recent estimate, before the pandemic, cited an average of 1,344 deaths annually.
Last month we saw the unsparing floodwaters caused several evacuations, with people taking shelter in schools and other evacuation centers, while surviving kin mourned the deaths of relations due to drowning and electrocution during the storms which disrupted as severely transportation.
The storms have been aggravated by the monsoon season, which brought continuous heavy rainfall, which flooded low-lying areas like much of the national capital region, which had become, in the lingo of wags, the national capital river.
It is in this regard that we add our voice to the call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and our national legislators to give precedency to the creation of a Department of Disaster Resilience.
This department can focus on proactive measures to minimize the impact of natural disasters.
This would include developing comprehensive disaster risk reduction and management plans, integrating these plans into national and local development policies, and strengthening early warning systems.
The department can also improve infrastructure, enhance community preparedness, and ensure efficient response and recovery mechanisms.
