1st people, 'system' 2nd

1st people, ‘system’ 2nd

(Herman Tiu Laurel / DieHard III / The Daily Tribune / 11-20-2013 WED)

 

In the wake of the greatest Philippine disaster of the decade, the people responsible for the tragedy of 5,000 lives lost (as of last count) cry out, “The ‘system’ failed.”  Just like in the pork barrel disaster, they blame the “system”--that is, if we are to believe them.

 

BS Aquino, their whiner-in-chief, got into the headlines again for proclaiming this gigantic lame excuse: No “one,” no human being, no person (or persons) in responsible authority is there to be blamed.  It’s the impersonal, non-personal, non-sentient thing called the ‘system,’ like a robot that runs by itself or a car or ship or vehicle that drives itself.”

 

“THE SYSTEM FAILED, WHAT ELSE COULD I’VE DONE?” uttered PeNoy in a news report.  He further said, “government’s disaster response systems failed when emergency staff became victims of Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ and were unable to work.”

 

How come, then, did one small town on a tiny island off Cebu, which was completely demolished by the storm surge from Yolanda, manage to have all of its 1,000 residents saved?

 

Mayor Alfredo Arquillano of the island of Tulang Diyot, town of San Francisco, evacuated his entire population to safer ground (by boat, bus, or whatever means).

 

Mayor Al said, “The day before, when it was clear how bad the typhoon would be, we decided to evacuate all.”

 

How could a small town mayor have the sense of urgency and foresight while higher authorities--like a President with so many experts around him as well as the city mayor of Tacloban, Alfredo Romualdez, with all the IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) and access to national government weather offices--failed?

 

The difference between Mayor Al on one hand and BS Aquino and Mayor Romualdez on the other is the sense of care and urgency for their people.  Both Aquino and Romualdez were not seen to be hands-on prior to the disaster.

 

What made the difference between the situation in San Francisco town on the island of Tulang Diyot with resources of a fifth class municipality, and the major city of Tacloban plus the entire country of 7,000 islands with a budget of P2 trillion is this: The leader in the person of Mayor Al Arquillano, who had his mind focused on the welfare of his people, enabling him to note the extraordinary circumstances of the typhoon, versus a president and a city mayor (both of whom are from old political families who inherited their privileged political posts), who wallowed in complacency and misplaced confidence with the usual preparations.

 

As far as the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) is concerned, all necessary public warnings were issued before Super Typhoon Yolanda (“Haiyan”) hit land.  At the bottom of Pagasa’s forecast--in a footnote-like text--the warning against possible seven-meter high storm surges was announced.  Ma. Cecilia Monteverde, assistant weather services chief of Pagasa, however, admitted that more could have been done to explain the magnitude and gravity of storm surges.

 

Mayor Arquillano’s astuteness and discernment, two human qualities that a “system” can never have on its own, thus made the difference.

 

Be that as it may, a question should now be raised about the “system,” which is indeed a fundamental factor in this country’s national crisis or “crises,” given that there is a never ending series of them--from the pork barrel to “jobless growth,” to growing hunger and poverty while the few oligarchs attain exponentially burgeoning and oppressive accumulations, to the total incompetence and incapacity of its public institutions to cope with the effects of natural disasters upon its poor and middle class populations (see repost: Rich typhoon victims prioritized; Great divide--rich poor cope differently). 

 

A system different from that of the Philippines is Cuba, which suffers hurricanes as bad as Yolanda but does better than even the US in saving its people.

 

In Cuba, the state government has all the authority and resources needed in such crises (with no casualties in “Katrina”).

 

In the US, preparation for Hurricane Katrina was late and aid was subcontracted, which led to 1,800 deaths and widespread dissatisfaction.

 

In the Philippines, private companies have more helicopters than government.  Yet, BS Aquino didn’t even attempt to commandeer these private resources to help the dying victims of Yolanda since government was purely reliant on foreign aid.

 

Despite a corrupt electoral system that ensconces incompetent scions such as BS Aquino and Al Romualdez, San Francisco town elected a caring and competent person as mayor.

 

The Philippines has many good people, like citizen-volunteer Taipan Millan whose group sought out Frabelle Fishing Corp. to ferry relief goods to Leyte and Samar.  After verifying with this columnist, Frabelle lent three big fishing vessels (Chrysanthemum, Brilliant Star, and Woodrose) and quietly got relief goods to many towns early on.

 

What this country needs are good people first, then the right ideas and resolve to reform the system next.  No Cha-cha (Charter change) will ever work while these “scions” are in charge.

 

(Catch Herman Tiu Laurel’s weekly show at GNN Destiny Cable Channel 8, Skycable Channel 213, and www.gnntv-asia.com, Saturday, 8:00 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m.; tune in to 1098 AM, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0923-4095739)