11TH 'YOLANDA' ANNIVERSARY; FILIPINOS NEED MORE SUPPORT IN DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
On November 8, the Philippines commemorate the 11th anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) affecting 60 out 80 provinces nationwide and made six landfalls in the Philippines. The strongest typhoon in history killed around 6,300 people and injured 26,688 individuals. Its damage to infrastructure and agriculture also reached P95.5 billion.
In commemoration of Yolanda’s 11th anniversary, it is a call to protect the environment and to stop mining operations, that local destruction will affect the whole Philippines and the whole world (Photo courtesy of Franz Lopez/Rappler)
To commemorate the 11th anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda which flattened communities and took many lives in 2013, several local government units in Eastern Visayas canceled work in the government and classes on Friday (November 8).
Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez said the suspension is necessary for the residents to solemnly commemorate the catastrophe that killed more than 2,000 people in the city. City Tourism Operations in Tacloban urged the people to light candles in their homes to remember those who have perished during the onslaught of Yolanda.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Martin Romualdez marked the 11th anniversary by calling for continued vigilance against climate change which led to increasingly severe weather events affecting the Philippines.
“The tragedy that occurred during Yolanda should not be repeated. No matter how strong the storm is, we must make sure our citizens are prepared. We must be vigilant against climate change to protect our people from falling victim to such tragedies,” Romualdez said.
On the other hand, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said that people must intensify efforts to mitigate and adapt to the challenges of climate change and urgently abate vulnerability to disasters, in commemoration of Yolanda’s anniversary.
“We must empower our communities and strengthen our local government units, who both comprise our first line of defense against calamities. We must guarantee the speedy delivery of relief and aid to all those who may need it. And after making sure that the communities brace better against typhoons, that they can build back better after, by making them more resilient than before.”
According to a Harvard study, disaster preparedness showed that the country needs significant work to avert the effects of calamities. Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Filipinos’ self-reported disaster preparedness level has increased by 42% on average over the past seven years.
“Nationwide data collected from 4,608 Filipinos across all regions from February to March 2024 show an average score of 19.2 out of 50 across five objective measures of disaster preparedness: planning, training, material investment, information, and social support,” the article said.
However, the level of preparedness is not enough for the Philippines, which has the highest disaster risk in the world. It showed that Filipinos are only doing 38.4% of the kinds of disaster preparedness activities needed to be prepared.
“For a country as vulnerable to disasters as the Philippines, this is not enough, so we must accelerate our efforts to ensure Filipinos are investing, planning, training, and building closer ties to their communities.”
Dr. Patrick Vinck, Director of Research at HHI, said the enhancement of disaster preparedness needs the help of local leadership.
“Enhancing the Philippines' disaster preparedness requires investing in local leadership and leveraging technology to improve early warning systems and community engagement, among other critical measures. This should be accompanied by investments in resilient infrastructures, local capacities, and anticipatory actions,” he said.
Source: ABS-CBN News
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