I am glad that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo acted swiftly to set up the Special National Public-Private Reconstruction Commission to oversee the long-term reconstruction of the Philippines. Evidently the entire country has been ravaged, for at the time Luzon was being pummeled by the twin typhoons, Central Mindanao was also being pounded by rains and now flood warnings are raised in parts of Bicol and the Visayas. At the same time, Western Visayas still has to be rehabilitated from Typhoon “Frank” last year.
Two crucial tasks face this commission. One is to plan for the long-term reconstruction of entire communities that have been affected, beyond mere rescue and relief, and to carve out new ones in areas already unviable—all of which will involve long-term work of various Filipino and foreign experts in many related fields. Second, to raise the mind-boggling funding needed, beyond that raised by the United Nations’ “flash appeal” which went into immediate typhoon operations in the past week.
The appointment of PLDT chair Manuel Pangilinan and Finance Secretary Margarito Teves as co-chair with Cebu’s Ricardo Cardinal Vidal indicates the primary importance of raising a large part of the necessary funds from the international community, given the damage to our economy. Teves, a veteran of countless RP roadshows abroad, recently disclosed his intention to “convert” the 2009 Philippine Development Forum to be held in mid-November in Manila, into a “pledging session” with multilateral agencies for what he terms possible “post-disaster assistance” in kind and financial grants and aid. Given the state of the world economy this could be tough, but we have to be persuasive.
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I caught Albay Gov. Joey Salceda in Manila as he planned to return to his province due to continuing rains there. I congratulated him for his idea on the rehab commission that his former teacher has adopted. Salceda cracked that he merely picked up the idea floated in this column two weeks ago about the need for a “mini-Marshall Plan” for RP that could source funds from, among others, the Climate Change Adaptation Fund for Third World countries that the rich economies have been ostensibly aiming to put together in so many conferences. Salceda, who joined us at the 14th UN Climate Change Conference in Poland last December, agreed that RP’s devastation could indeed be a “test case” in the run-up to the crucial 15th Conference in Copenhagen this December. I noted that RP would be competing with so many disaster-stricken areas in Asia-Pacific such as Indonesia, India and Samoa, but Salceda pointed out that the earthquakes in Indonesia and Samoa are tectonic in origin whereas the floods here were manifestations of climate change.
In an aside he lamented the blame game going on in the midst of the disasters, stressing that the reason his calamity-stricken province was able to recover from the supertyphoons two years ago was “because we stopped blaming one another and got to work.” Salceda’s motto in calamities: First, let’s prepare, then let’s help, then let’s learn, and then let’s blame. Sound advice.
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In the recent interview Cecile Alvarez and I had with Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, he mused about the National Disaster Coordinating Council and its strengths and weaknesses. He explained that contrary to popular perception, the NDCC just coordinates the moves of various agencies, likening it to one’s palm with the regional development councils as fingers (under the RDCCs are various government disaster units down to the barangay). The NDCC, Teodoro explained, has a yearly budget of P90 million which goes to payment of salaries and operations, with nothing for capital outlay.
Asked about the rubber boats, he explained that the government has a good number of them, but they’re dispersed among LGUs. That morning of the floods they were concentrated where they normally are—in flood-prone Navotas and Malabon. But when the water suddenly began to rise in Marikina and surrounding areas, attempts were made to bring more boats to those areas but by then the highways were already clogged with stalled vehicles. In an earlier interview with Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, he revealed that some boats had to be hauled to Marikina by LRT as nothing moved on the flooded highways.
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Teodoro explained that the Armed Forces is routinely alerted together with the Philippine National Police, for calamities and it’s “automatic” for them to bring out trucks for “libreng sakay,” etc. He stressed that the LGUs constitute the first line of defense in disasters and that disaster response is a task the AFP undertakes while dealing with the Abu Sayyaf, Central Mindanao separatists and the New People’s Army. He pointed out that the AFP’s $1.2 billion budget, which is only 1.6 percent of the GDP, is quite small compared to those of our neighbors which have far bigger armies for contiguous terrain, unlike ours which is archipelagic. The small budget makes prioritizing for operations imperative. He said buying rubber boats is not the “primary responsibility” of the AFP but of the LGUs; to the AFP one boat means “ilang communications radios, or ilang baril or boots para sa mga sundalo.”
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How does he rate government response to the disasters? Teodoro said that “based on the resources available I rate it high,” but he admitted with a wry smile that there are hordes of unbelievers. He heaped praise on the LRT and MRT management which kept the trains running 24/7. Had there been an LRT line to Antipolo, he said, rescue could have been faster. He also praised the RDCCs of Regions I and II for successfully carrying out his “preemptive evacuation” order that resulted in zero death. He praised the parents of the soldiers who perished while rescuing flood victims, saying they wouldn’t have turned out to be so heroic if they weren’t molded by their parents that way.
