‘Lando’ and poverty

THE PHILIPPINES is hit by an average of 20 typhoons every year, with a little less than half making landfall. Given this fact, the country should by now be more prepared for these weather disturbances. Yet every year, losses from such natural calamities pile up.

Typhoon “Lando” (international name: Koppu), which ravaged Central and Northern Luzon two weekends ago, is so far the strongest in 2015. Latest government estimates put the damage to property at more than P9 billion, of which about P8.2 billion is in agriculture. Central Luzon suffered the brunt with more than P7 billion worth of damage to agriculture. The official death toll has climbed to 46, with some 1.2 million people affected by the resulting widespread flooding and destruction of homes and roads. A total of 751 schools across Luzon were damaged. The slow-moving typhoon’s heavy rains and strong winds also caused the suspension of classes even in Metro Manila and the cancellation of air flights.

Agriculture is expected to suffer most of the destruction as Lando swept across farming regions. The vegetable-growing provinces in the north were heavily affected. The obvious economic impact then will be on food supply and prices, particularly of rice. The Philippines is among the world’s biggest importers of rice, with 1.8 million tons approved for delivery this year. The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) had earlier sought President Aquino’s go-ahead to import up to 1.5 million tons of rice in the first quarter of 2016, or triple the volume of the original plan, to ensure sufficient supply and keep prices stable due to the drought induced by El Niño. With Lando destroying much of the rice farms in Nueva Ecija, government officials believed it was necessary to increase the volume of rice imports in 2016. Neda has proposed to import an additional one million tons to maintain a 45-day buffer stock. Otherwise, the inventory will fall drastically and, as experienced in 2013 and 2014 when the stockpile fell sharply, prices will rise.

There are manmade causes for the increasing damage being caused by typhoons, and poverty, deforestation and substandard infrastructure are among them. With still one in five Filipinos living in poverty, a big chunk of the population cannot afford to build weather-resistant homes, or even decent dwellings. With corruption still prevalent in the lower levels of the bureaucracy, the people cannot expect roads and bridges in their areas to withstand harsh weather. For instance, the government reported that a total of 101 road sections and 11 bridges were rendered impassable in Ilocos, Cagayan, Central Luzon and the Cordillera because of Lando. It is a sad reality that many of the basic infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, in the provinces are of very poor quality. With illegal logging continuing to remove a natural protection against storms, the people will continue to suffer from flooding.

Scientists have also cited climate change for the strengthening tropical storms. They believe that global-warming-induced changes in the climate have spawned “supertyphoons” such as “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan). Romulo Virola, former secretary general of the National Statistical Coordination Board, previously observed that typhoons had been getting stronger, especially since the 1990s. From 1947 to 1960, the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines was “Amy” in December 1951, with highest wind speed of 240 kilometers per hour in Cebu. From 1961 to 1980, “Sening” was the record-holder with a highest wind speed of 275 kph in October 1970. During the next 20 years, the highest wind speed record was held by “Anding” and “Rosing” at 260 kph. In the current millennium, the highest wind speed soared to 320 kph, as recorded by “Reming” in 2006. The US Joint Typhoon Warning Center put Yolanda’s sustained winds at 315 kph just minutes before it made landfall in November 2013.

Because millions of people still live in poverty, natural disasters will continue to cause casualties and damage to property as they have no means to prepare for typhoons. The government needs to address the poverty problem if it is to minimize the damage from natural disasters. It also has to curb corruption in infrastructure projects in the provinces and reforest many parts of the country while protecting the remaining forest cover. Only then can we be better prepared for even stronger typhoons in the future.

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