start at the barangays - part 2

I was initially in the “strike while the iron is hot” mode again.    I was about to follow up my article “what now, potrero?” but super typhoon “Yolanda” came and lost my interest.  My thought was who will be interested in politics, especially local, in times like these.  If I was distraught and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the destruction, misery and displacement I saw in various TV footages, so is everybody, most likely.   

But as I reviewed my list of articles, I came across my earlier blog “start at the barangays” (http://raulgalangsarmiento.blogspot.com/2011/07/start-at-barangays.html) and gave me an idea that I could still do a follow up by taking off from this.  I also decided to reuse the title of this particular blog; which now looms as a recurring episode in my blog writing.  (As this was up for final editing, though, my 91-year old father suffered hemorrhagic stroke, was hospitalized for two weeks and met his death two days after he was discharged from the hospital.  Thus, the further delay in its publication.) 

The original article dealt on how to handle disaster risks that may arise from natural hazards.  I opined that we, Kapampangans, should be one of the most disaster-prepared among Filipino ethnic regional groupings.  Since time immemorial, our forebears had been exposed and confronted by natural hazards arising mainly from their choice of place to live—along the banks of the great Rio Grande (Pampanga River).  As “taga pampang” (people from riverbanks), natural hazards, like floods and tropical cyclones, were casual occurrences and elements of their lives, thus, they were forced to tame and live harmoniously with them.  At the time the Spanish conquistadors came, these “taga pampang” had their own form of government, their own culture, were already food self-sufficient and were trading in nearby countries. 

This collective innate ability to deal with natural hazards had been strengthened further by our not-so-distant encounter with Mount Pinatubo eruption and the resultant lahar flows.  But with super typhoon “Yolanda” as benchmark, we should now busy ourselves  building upon this accumulated collective innate ability to enable us to become much better prepared in these times of highly environmentally degraded and globally warmed world.  Since resiliency is one of the traits Kapampangans are known as a people—as all other Filipinos are—we should warm to this in no time. 

We really can’t afford to do otherwise since “the Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone places on Earth”, declared Kathleen Tierney, director of Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado.  “They’ve got it all.  They’ve got earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tropical cyclones, landslides,” she further said (Associated Press, November 13^th, 2013 reprinted in globalnation.inquirer.net).   

This innate ability, I would say, is not confined to natural but to man-made hazards as well.  During the World War II, just like all other Filipinos, we successfully triumphed over and survived one of the worst man-made hazards and its equally catastrophic resultant disaster mankind had ever seen; the wars between the most powerful capitalist countries in the world fought in our midst.  As if this was not enough, another man-made hazard, the agrarian-based social and political unrest—the Huk rebellion—immediately followed.  This caused fear, displacement and mayhem mainly in Central Luzon, with Pampanga at the core.  For this old man, though, the greatest man-made hazard that we’ve encountered and continuously confront is of course our government, both local and national.  

I won’t be surprised if other people will presume that Kapampangans are seasoned to deal with both natural and man-made disasters because of our past exposures to natural and man-made hazards.  But from the country’s recent experience with the flurry of disasters that hit us just this last half of the year, especially the one brought about by “Yolanda”, we should not be so sure of this but instead should look deeper into it and do major adjustments and additional preparations. 

This early, though, this old man believes on the importance and indispensability of solid preparations at the grassroots (barangay) level.  If we can hardly describe the near annihilation of cities, towns and communities directly hit by super typhoon “Yolanda” in Central Philippines, how much more if current disaster risk reduction plans and activities are not tweaked accordingly by the concerned local government units and national government agencies.

We certainly can’t do away with the hazards but like the Kapampangans of old we should learn how to live harmoniously with these and consider them regular elements of our existence on this part of the Earth.  But our local governments should proactively play a central role in enabling individual residents to cope with and in accomplishing this seemingly impossible task. 

One of the most undeniable truths that truly convinced me on the indispensability and importance of local government units and solid grassroots preparations was the highly inspirational experience of a barangay in the Municipality of Guian in Eastern Samar that was hit first when “Yolanda” made its first of six landfalls.  Here is an impoverished far-flung and unheard of barangay reduced practically to rubbles but only suffered one casualty.  A resident interviewed by a TV network attributed their near zero casualty to early evacuation of fellow residents to safe grounds initiated by their barangay government.  There is no better proof than this to disprove the popular notion being peddled by government officials unwilling to take the blame—and aided by a section of the media—that the masses did not know what storm surge is, thus, the huge losses in lives and properties.  

Contrast this with what happened in Tacloban City, the highly economically developed regional center of Eastern Visayas.  The city mayor, his city councilor-wife and their children nearly became statistics in government’s list of casualties for stubbornly staying in their beachfront mansion.  I really pity their children who had to go through this ordeal because of the ineptness of their local government official-parents and their utter failure to safeguard them from harm.  My compassion also goes to all the residents that were either dead or physically and emotionally scarred.  Certainly, the people of Tacloban deserve better leaders that could equal, if not better, the leadership shown by the leaders of that small barangay that had beaten all odds and had triumphantly tamed the fury of “Yolanda”.  I just hope that the city leadership will wake up in time to pursue a no-nonsense post-disaster plan to mend and rebuild the shattered lives of the Taclobanons.

This also goes with all local government units, especially the frontline barangays, not only in the devastated areas but throughout the country.  It’s really high time that we all pay attention to our barangays not just in relation to how they handle hazards and respond accordingly to the resultant disasters but, more importantly, in transforming them into disaster resilient communities, in particular, and as safe refuges of the people notably in times of poverty, of war, and of danger, in general.  Any barangay that can overcome and thrive during adversarial times will surely have easier time pursuing not just post-disaster rehabilitation but also holistic community development in times of prosperity, of peace, and of safety.

As an end note, I cannot help but ask: how could barangays with run-of-the-mill leaders face the challenges of modern times replete with dangers and trials both man-made and natural?  In addition, would leaders whose victories in elections are gained through grave intimidations, irregularities and frauds be concerned with these dangers and trials?  Would they go to the extent of committing these despicable acts just for the opportunity to lock horns with these dangers and trials?  This, in the end, is where the bigger disaster in local governance starts.  This is also where barangay residents should direct and focus their risk reduction interventions against this man-made hazard that engenders and breeds breakdown not just in local but national governance, too.   (30)