ELECTION candidates to local positions have not talked much about preparing Cebu for the next disaster.
When a calamity strikes, government officials get blamed for not preparing the communities for disasters. So, candidates might as well come up with their programs to improve Cebu’s preparedness for emergency situations by Saturday, May 11, the last day for campaigning before the May 13 elections.
On the part of the voters, they will have to choose candidates who can fix the drainage systems, work to prevent more flash floods and assign evacuation shelters and routes for during earthquakes.
The summer heat does not make it easy to think about typhoons and flash floods, but when calamities strike, we call on government and elected officials to account for the community’s failure to prepare. Voters only have to remember their exasperation over official inaction to think wisely about who to elect.
What are the candidates’ programs for disaster preparedness?
They can take their cue from a recent Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) survey that showed very low levels of earthquake preparedness planning, especially among less educated Filipinos. The HHI called for disaster risk reduction and management actors to ensure that information on earthquakes and other disasters are accessible and comprehensible to all.
“Timely access to disaster information is essential as are plans for what to do in the event of an earthquake. Filipinos should be aware of the Department of Interior and Local Government’s guidelines on disaster preparedness and acquaint themselves with evacuation routes, evacuation shelter locations and should have emergency kits prepared,” HHI Resilient Communities Program Director Vincenzo Bollettino said in a statement.
Generally, all households have very low planning for earthquake, the study said. Households with more highly educated members were more likely to have an earthquake disaster plan than those with less educated ones.
Central Luzon which was severely hit by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake last April 22, was one of the regions with the lowest earthquake preparedness planning at the household level before the disaster happened with only three percent. Metro Manila which was also jolted by the recent earthquake was with the second highest level of preparedness planning before the disaster happened at 13 percent, while Central Visayas reported the highest level at 15 percent.
This ranking of having the highest level of preparedness for the region should not allow the government to relax but instead encourage officials to more action, especially in bringing awareness to less educated Filipinos. The first step is to have a disaster information program to address this need.
Such a program may not be the sole basis for choosing public officials, but a candidate’s plan and track record will count. Candidates with programs on how to mitigate the effects of calamities such as typhoons, flooding, and earthquakes are likely to get the vote.