Paradigm shift in confronting disasters

The new (six months on the job) head of the Office of Civil Defense, the agency that is in charge when disasters strike, is Alexander Pama, Vice Admiral (Ret) and former Flag Officer of the Philippine Navy, now the Undersecretary for National Defense. This agency manages the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Commission (a mouthful, with a plateful of tasks). NDRRMC (still a mouthful) can and must be a vital agency for this country rated second most vulnerable in the world for disasters. Indeed, we have the hazards - geological (earthquakes), hydrological (typhoons, storm surges, floods), volcanic (Mayon, Pinatubo). We also have man-made disasters such as the recent Zamboanga siege, the on-going Mindanao conflict. There are too the perils of pandemics i.e. SARS, MERS and Ebola.Mr. Pama intends to manage a pro-active rather than merely reactive agency using anticipation and preparation and a new rulebook about what to do down to the barangay level in case of disasters. Countries that are prepared can cope with disasters in an organized and efficient way that reduces disruption to a manageable minimum. When disasters are not coped with in this way, they cause malfunction in society i.e. deaths, loss of shelter, property, food shortages, epidemics, inadequate medical response, psychological trauma from physical and mental stress that people caught in their experience. Hazards abound but if we can meet them with organized preparedness when they act up, they do not need to become dire disasters.

The biggest gaps in the past as identified by Mr. Pama is institutional weakness to disaster response. Unpreparedness is the main culprit that results in hasty and ad hoc solutions in lieu of permanent and effective answers. The latter must be anticipated and planned. In the past with a historical record of 20 typhoons a year, propensity to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions resulting in floods, damage to infrastructure and agriculture, lives lost and in peril, we have generally reacted without serious planning for such eventualities.