Lesson from Yolanda: Secure responders’ families – Roxas

Ayee Macaraig

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The interior secretary says the government must evacuate responders' families to ensure they do not become victims and are able to focus on their duties

LESSON LEARNED. Interior Secretary Mar Roxas says a valuable lesson from typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) is to secure responders' families first so they can immediately respond to disasters. Photo by Ayee Macaraig/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – More than two weeks since Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said he learned a valuable lesson from the most devastating disaster to hit the country in recent history.

“The lesson from Yolanda is that the family of the first responders should be evacuated, secured, so the first responders will not become victims,” Roxas told reporters at the sidelines of budget deliberations on Monday, November 25.

Mahirap na asahan silang gampanan nila ang kanilang tungkulin kung ang isip o atensiyon nila ay nasa paglikas ng kanilang mga mahal sa buhay,” said the secretary, who is among those heading relief and rehabilitation efforts.

(It is hard to expect them to fulfill their duty when their mind or attention is focused on evacuating their loved ones.)

Roxas admitted the government did not think of evacuating the responders’ kin.

The interior chief made the statement as he defended why his department has its own budget for climate change even if other agencies have the primary mandate over disaster risk reduction and climate change mitigation.

“That is one of the lessons that, through technical assistance and seminars, we will now impart to LGUs as part of their planning, their crafting of their disaster risk reduction and management plans. This is one of the things we will teach: that the family of the first responder – police, firemen, disaster risk reduction personnel – must be kept away from harm so that starting day one, they are focused on their work,” Roxas said.

Yet Roxas was asked why it took the world’s most powerful storm for the government to learn the lesson. Each year, an average of 20 typhoons hit the country, which also sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire.

“Yolanda ang kauna-unahang signal number 4 sa atin. Tayo naman, natututo sa ating mga karanasan. Sa teorya, hindi ito naisip. Ngayon nakita natin napakahalaga nito. On day 1 at day 2, ang first responders ay biktima mismo. Iyan ang isa sa mahahalagang leksyon natutunan natin dito.”

(Yolanda is the first typhoon where we had signal number 4. We learn from experience. In theory, we did not think about it. Now we see how important it is. On day 1 and day 2, the first responders were victims themselves. That is one of the most important lessons we learned.)

Contrary to Roxas’ statement, there were 14 previous storms since 1991 where state weather bureau PAGASA raised signal number 4 in the Philippines.

The world’s most powerful storm to make landfall, Yolanda killed 5,235 people as of November 25. The typhoon flattened whole towns and cities and affected 10 million people. The government is now starting the rehabilitation process, expected to take years.

In the immediate aftermath, local soldiers, policemen and government officials were hard-pressed to respond to the disaster as some of them were also killed, while the rest were looking after family members or searching for missing relatives.

Roxas and the national government have drawn flak over the slow delivery of relief goods and the supposed lack of leadership in the first few days after the typhoon.

‘Aquino directive hard to implement’

Roxas also commented on President Benigno Aquino III’s directive to keep coastlines off limits to homes after Yolanda. The secretary said this will be hard to implement.

Palace Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr has said that the President ordered the Deparment of Environment and Natural Resources to establish “no-build zones” on coastlines so residents will be transferred to safer sites.

Roxas said: “There is an easement, but I think that will be hard to implement absolutely because how about fishing communities? How will they find livelihood if not near the coast? I think we will need different solutions depending on the situation of the LGUs (local government units).”  

He added, “If there is a community there, forced evacuation must be implemented more strictly if we see that the typhoon is headed their way.”

The secretary said his directive to LGUs now is to conduct relief and assistance programs while the national government prepares to help restore public services through constructing health centers and municipal centers for the typhoon-hit areas.

Roxas is part of the so-called “composite team” that oversees the relief and rehabilitation efforts after Yolanda. Last week, he was in hard-hit Tacloban City with Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman. He said that there is no ground commander and instead, the government uses a “consultative process” for its operations. 

The Palace named Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, former governor of typhoon-hit Leyte, as the coordinator of the task force for “budgetary implications” handling the rehabilitation. – Rappler.com

 

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