Ondoy: Lessons and Learnings

As the smoke from the recent National Elections fades into the annals of history, we now find P-Noy in charge of all our beloved 7,100 islands.


So many issues are being lobbied towards the administration of the 15th President of RP, but no one seems to bring up disaster preparedness.

I’m not saying that this matter is more important than others, but can you blame me after I saw Congressional Ave. in Quezon City turn into a river when Typhoon Ondoy whacked Metro Manila?

That typhoon nearly erased NCR from the map, drowned every Manileño and destroyed properties. It also reminded us how dangerous Mother Nature can get when she unleashes her fury.

And when the time for Ondoy to leave came, he left a trail of destruction behind and turned the NDCC into the nation’s whipping dogs.
The NDCC has always been on the receiving end of complaints when disaster strikes, after all, they are the disaster experts (if you’re working for an office that says National Disaster Coordinating Council, you’re just asking for it). But are we really pointing our fingers towards the right direction?
Trivia: Did you know that the mayor of your city is also the chairman of the local disaster coordinating council?
So when disaster strikes, the first responding team to provide assistance to the people should come from the local government. If the local government fails to rise to the occasion, it could only mean two things: 1.) It’s time for NDCC to lend a hand; and 2.) the local government officials of your town ain’t prepared for disasters because they squandered the disaster funds somewhere else.
Not that the NDCC comes clean, I’m sure this agency has its problems. But you have to understand that they’re job is to prepare us for disasters through education, not through responding to disasters in person because they don’t have the people and resources for that kind of thing.
And to all you local politicians, start organizing response teams and start investing on rescue equipment (like they do in Makati, Marikina, Navotas and Pasig) so when disaster strikes, you can show us where our taxes go.

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After banning ‘wang-wang’, Pres. Aquino continues to show people that he means business after he recently ousted Dr. Prisco Nilo from PAG-ASA.
Nilo was reportedly removed from office due to incompetence and failure to communicate with his immediate supervisors.
If this is P-Noy’s way of cleaning up the government, I’d say he’s doing a bad job.
First, how can we expect Nilo to deliver an accurate weather forecast when he doesn’t have the gizmos that would allow him to do so? In addition to lack of equipment, PAG-ASA is already short on experienced and great meteorologists. And now that Nilo, one of the best if not the best meteorologist on this side of the planet is gone, what’s next for PAG-ASA?

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Despite owning state-of-the-art weather forecasting gadgets, superpowers like USA and China still get hit by hurricanes and floods. So how do you expect Nilo to do any better with mediocre tools?
Meteorology is one field that depends heavily on equipment Mr. President. Even a top-notch meteorologist can fail if he doesn’t have the right stuff with him. So why not get Nilo the goods and give him a second chance?

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Besides, nowadays, it’s flooding that’s killing us. And no amount of weather forecasting can save you from that.

Back in the 90s, we’ve had our fair share of rain-heavy storms. But that wasn’t enough to turn EDSA into a body of water. Fast forward to the 2000s and now, even normal rains can cause flooding. And credit goes to DPWH.

Of all the government agencies in existence, this one has got to be among those with the most funds but the least contribution to the country’s development. I see people working on roads that don’t need any fixing, and you go to MRT North Ave. Station and find a bumpy road just beside Trinoma.

When will DPWH people stop the farce and start fixing Metro Manila’s drainages instead? I bet that would stop, if not, minimize flooding.

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So where does P-Noy fit in this verbose post?

He could start calling the attention of local politicians and the DPWH so they could get their act together. With climate change and natural calamities at an all-time high, disaster preparedness can spell the difference between life and death.

With the rainy season looming over us, let’s just hope that we still have time to prepare for more Ondoys to come because as scary as it sounds, the possibility exists.