“The tragedy that hit Binaliw, Cebu was a perfect example of government inaction”
PEOPLE know that our country is prone to disasters and calamities and we have had disasters involving floods and earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and landslides.
And. Santa Banana, another calamity recently happened in Binaliw, Cebu where no less than 36 people died when a landslide occurred at the Binaliw landfill. I do not know why people are allowed to live in areas prone to disasters and landslides and many other calamities.
I have been urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to create another department called the Department of Disaster Resilience (or DDR).
The tragedy that hit Binaliw, Cebu was a perfect example of government inaction and our national leaders apparently are unaware that it can happen anytime.
We have had disasters in many areas nationwide – where communities are victims of landslides – and yet, Santa Banana, no department to address these has been created.
People were living beside the landfill and yet the government has not done anything.
I have been repeatedly urging President Marcos to create the DDR and yet there is a bill long pending in the Senate and there seems to be only one senator aware of these disasters and calamities happening at any time in the person of Senator Christopher “Bong” Go.
The idea of creating a DDR is to have people pinpoint calamity and disaster-prone areas which can happen anytime considering we are a country prone to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and many other forms of calamities and disasters and yet, tragically, government seems unaware or, ignorant of the many disasters and calamities that have happened costing the lives of people and livelihood and destruction of government infrastructure, Santa Banana!
Knowing full well the Philippines is a disaster prone country should be the #1 concern of our leaders to create for a government agency solely concentrated and focused on disasters and calamities.
Yes, we have the NDRRMC (National_Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council) that attends to this but this government agency is only activated every time there is a disaster.
What we need is a department that is concentrated on rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
I have been writing continuously on the need for a DDR, but it seems the government and our government leaders are, I don’t like to say, ignorant about it and are not concerned about the lives of people, loss of livelihood and destruction of government infrastructure and agriculture destroyed due to the lack of concentration of government to attend to disasters and calamities.
We have had so many earthquakes happening all over the country where people have died and infrastructure has been destroyed, agriculture devastated and yet it is not only ignorance, but it seems government leaders are not aware of how many people have died and how much government infrastructure has been destroyed and the livelihood of people lost.
If only to point out what has been happening to the country , I cite the example of Binaliw, Cebu where people reside beside a landfill.
It is amazing people should be living there in an area so disaster prone.
Why does the government allow them to stay there? A DDR would already know a landfill or a similar area is prone to a landslide so something could be done.
Another issue is when disasters and calamities happen, we wait for relief and rescue from private sectors and even from foreign sources instead of having a government agency like a DDR, ready to provide the relief , rescue and rehabilitation needed.
I cannot over emphasize the importance of a DDR considering, Santa Banana, the Philippines is disaster and calamity prone.
Instead of creating a sole government agency concentrated on disasters and calamities, we have to rely on the NDRRMC to attend to this matter knowing full well, Santa Banana, this is only an ad hoc agency under the Department of National Defense.
We need a Department of Disaster Resilience, considering that the Philippines is disaster and calamity prone. Santa Banana, we need it like yesterday.
