That Typhoon Pablo has veered its course and headed back to the Philippine area of responsibility is the worst imaginable event to occur at this time. The country is still under a state of national calamity. Hundreds are still missing, and hundreds of thousands have been left with no food, no water, and no place to go.

Those who managed to survive the typhoon last week are still reeling. Life has definitely not gone back to normal for millions of victims, and it may take months before there will at least be a semblance of normalcy to their existence.

After causing the deaths of more than 500 and rendering more than 100,000 homeless in the southern part of the country, Pablo could well inflict similar damage in the north. Even if the typhoon does not make landfall, it is still expected to bring rains to the Ilocos Region.

While absolutely nothing can be done to change the path of the storm, many things can and should be done to keep safe the residents of the areas to be hit. Very recently, President Aquino said that it should be the government’s goal to see to it that there are no fatalities whenever natural disasters strike. Faster responses by local government units should be the first order of the day, and evacuations should be carried out with enough time to spare.

Emergency supplies such as food, water, tents, blankets, dry clothes and medicine should be ready at the evacuation centers. Local government units should not have to wait for the national government to come to the rescue every time natural disasters strike.

Danger zones
It must be noted that many of those who died last week as a result of the effects of Typhoon Pablo were living in areas which had long been known to be unsafe. This is not to blame the victims of the calamity. Most of them may not have been aware of the danger they were in, and knew of no other place as home.

Furthermore, Pablo was no ordinary typhoon, but was referred to as a supertyphoon capable of causing unimaginable damage to areas that traditionally were not prone to such weather extremes, and never at this time of year.

At this stage, government’s resources are stretched to the limit. The delivery of emergency aid has not been as quick as expected, and there are numerous reports of survivors resorting to looting in order to survive.

The present state of national calamity tells us that this is not the time for finger pointing, but rather a time to get together and help those in need. Not to belabor the point, but there are millions of Filipinos begging for any kind of help, whether from the government, the private sector, or the international community.

If, as some experts claim, abnormal weather conditions should now be considered as the new normal, then medium to long-term solutions must be found to prevent future loss of life and property. Relocating communities located in danger zones will have to be one of the tough actions that the government has to take.

In the aftermath of yet another killer typhoon, it should be clear that a large part of the blame must be pinned on those engaged in logging and mining, illegal or otherwise. The government must do everything to protect the lands and especially the remaining forest cover from further degradation.

Setting our priorities
With so many Filipinos having undergone or currently undergoing a crisis caused by a natural calamity, it may be time for some introspection in order to realize what is and isn’t important.

The loss of Manny Pacquiao to Juan Manuel Marquez yesterday is a newsworthy event, but one that should not have too serious an effect on the lives of the Filipino people. There are infinitely more important things in life, and the damage caused by Typhoon Pablo and united efforts to aid and assist all victims must take precedence over anything at this point.

Our fallen hero dedicated his fight to the victims of the deadly typhoon. It was a gallant gesture, and Pacquiao certainly had no plan of losing the fight. But now, the government must focus its undivided attention on the plight of the survivors, even as the remains of all the dead have to be found and given fitting burials.

The areas that caught the brunt of the typhoon must be worst than hell these days. They must be little different than the areas in Japan that were hit by the earthquake and tsunami last year.

Yesterday, one prizefighter who had done the Philippines proud for nearly a decade was soundly beaten, but received some $20 million (more than P800 million) for his troubles. In the past days, millions of Filipinos were beaten by Mother Nature and hundreds of thousands of them were left with nothing. No clothes on their backs, no roofs over their heads, and no food in their stomachs.

One need not be a genius to know what is truly important, and what is the least of our priorities.