Disaster prevention
THE devastation brought about by Typhoon Odette in the Visayas and Mindanao has thrust out front the need for Filipinos to adopt “better” disaster prevention measures.
No less than Rep. Loren Legarda, a former senator and an acknowledged environmentalist, claimed that disaster prevention starts long before a typhoon makes landfall.
National and local action must promote disaster prevention, with “zero casualty” as the gold standard, according to the outspoken Legarda, who is a House deputy speaker.
Since the Philippines is visited by an average of 20 typhoons and storms, including destructive ones, a year, the Filipino people should have by now adapted to natural disasters.
This is to avoid further loss of lives and damage to agricultural crops and property.
By now, the national government and our local government units should ensure that their disaster management and response mechanisms are already in place, she added.
And we share Legarda’s view that the people, including the ordinary citizens across the country, share with the government the responsibility to prepare for calamities.
The public expects our government officials, notably those holding elective positions, like congressmen, governors and mayors, to deliver on their supposedly pro-poor agenda.
Our public servants ought to ensure that the taxpayers’ money goes to government projects and programs and not to the deep pockets of corrupt men and women in state uniform.
Let’s meet the many needs of the people during typhoons, floods and other national emergencies.
