BP

1. A Bouncing Forward Philippines in the face of Disasters
“The rubble trapped me in my boarding house for three days. I kept calm and
patiently waited for rescue. With no food and water, I survived because of my willpower to
live”, Sandy Montano, a survivor of the 1990 earthquake in Baguio said.
Today, Sandy is an award-winning disaster preparedness advocate and
entrepreneur. The tragedy motivated her to rise again, and help others. Farmers who
are also survivors of disasters are now Sandy’s partners in her sustainable livelihood
program. She also empowers people by providing Basic Life Support Training as
preparedness towards having resilient and transformed communities.
Sandy’s survival and coping-up story from a disaster perfectly depicts the 2019
National Disaster Resiliency Month Theme “ Kahandaan sa Sakuna’t Peligro Para sa
Tunay na Pagbabago.” Disaster preparedness and resiliency are intertwined with
genuine transformation which outsets from every individual and shall collectively make
an impact to the whole country in general. The government and peoples’ partnership is
vital and fundamental in achieving national goals for a safer and progressive
Philippines amidst catastrophic disasters.
The Philippines, located along the boundary of major tectonic plates and at the
center of a typhoon belt, is regularly impacted by floods, typhoons, landslides,
earthquakes, volcanoes and drought. The Philippines has also been identified as
among the top three countries in the world for population exposure and vulnerability to
hazards. Records show that the Philippines has been affected by 565 natural disaster
events that have claimed the lives of nearly 70,000 Filipinos and caused an estimated
$25 billion in damages, since 1990. At least 60 percent of the country’s total land area is
exposed to multiple hazards, and 74 percent of the population is vulnerable to their
impact. This results to a sluggish progress for the country and its people. With this
disheartening reality, preparedness and resilience are government’s and every citizen’s
topmost concern towards a holistic and genuine transformation.
Disaster Preparedness is the knowledge and capacities of governments,
professional response and recovery organisations, communities and individuals to
effectively anticipate, respond to, and recover from the impacts of likely, imminent or
current hazardous events or conditions. This is carried over through installation of early
warning systems, identifying evacuation routes and preparing emergency supplies.
The Philippine government takes disaster preparedness seriously and has
devoted significant resources to build disaster capacity and reduce population exposure
and vulnerability, nationally and locally. The Philippine government through Project
NOAH,( Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) has been installing over 1,000
pieces of weather equipment composed of automated weather stations (AWS),

2. automated rain gauges (ARG), and combinations of AWS-ARGs along the 18 major
river basins in the country. The equipment complements units—such as Doppler radars,
surveillance cameras, tsunami detectors, and alerting siren—continuously being
installed in various locations, to ensure effective location-specific forecasts seven days
ahead throughout the Philippines. The locals from different regions received training on
how to secure their homes from strong winds and heavy rainfall. Other capacity building
sessions offered include preparedness and response to tsunamis, earthquakes and
fires.
Moreover, aside from preparedness, resilience measure is another factor to
consider in addressing disaster related problem. Disaster resilience is defined as the
ability of a community or society exposed to natural disasters to resist, absorb,
accommodate, adapt to, transform, and recover from the effects of a disaster. It is to
further mitigate the impact of disasters in communities.
The Philippine government has developed a strong coping mechanism over its
long history of experience with disasters. Some of its resilience measures include the
provision of adequate transition houses and livelihood opportunities as socio-economic
resilience for disaster victims during early rehabilitation and recovery period as well as
adequate mental health and psychosocial support services as well as well- being
resilience.
With an intensive effort in preparedness and resilience in battling the effects of
disasters, transformation and progress in the Philippines and its people will surely
flourish. A universal transformation shall empower the people and make them capable of
preventing, responding to, and recovering from various risks. Reducing vulnerability of
individuals and families, Filipinos will have greater socioeconomic resiliency transcending its
impact to the government’s economy.
“If not managed well, disasters can roll back years of development gains and plunge
millions of people into poverty,” said Konishi. “Disasters can induce and exacerbate poverty
through the loss of lives, destruction of assets, disruption of economic activities and trade,
and indirect impacts on health, mobility, gender equality, and access to education.”
So let us all together prepare as one nation. The “ Big One “ may come but the
Filipino spirit will never be small in facing its wobbles. Our defences have been
structured to withstand the nature’s destructive potency.