Prepare for disasters
AS a favorite “sparring partner” of typhoons, storms, floods and other natural disasters, the Philippines ought to implement climate change adaptation strategies and action plans.
Every year, destructive natural disasters claim the lives of many Filipinos, mostly poor farmers and fishers, and destroy billions of pesos worth of agricultural crops, like palay and corn.
Note that many places across the country, including the heavily-populated Metropolitan Manila (MM), are highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate-related hazards.
Certainly, we share the view of many Filipinos that with the worsning of the problem of climate change, there’s that need to make our infrastructure disaster-resilient.
Not only that. The government, through concerned offices and agencies, must ensure community preparedness whenever typhoons and storms and other natural hazards occur.
It may be useful, then, for village officials and employees, particularly members of the Barangay Health Workers (BHW), to regularly undergo training on first aid.
What is really saddening and disturbing is the fact that during floods and other national emergencies, public servants who are supposed to render service “disappear.”
The situation is not helped any by the inability of government workers to help residents of far-flung communities during catastrophic floods because of lack of relief goods.
Of course, the people are in for more problems if concerned government authorities fail to address the problems of hoarding and overpricing of goods during emergencies.
Indeed, disaster preparedness training, in the view of many, is a must in impoverished Philippines, which is visited by an average of 20 typhoons and storms a year.
