IT was Thursday and three days past already when Tropical Storm Jolina made its first landfall on the evening of Monday, September 6, in Hernani, Eastern Samar.
Yet, the Office of Civil Defense regional office 8 could not confirm the already increasing numbers of reported casualties, mostly drowned fishermen. Division Chief Rey Gozon of OCD, in a Thursday radio interview, would not readily confirm the number of casualties citing proper protocols in validating reports. Or is it because the agency has underestimated typhoon Jolina that it did not man up in its office, hence failing miserably to be abreast and on track on the unfolding Jolina onslaught.
With the local social welfare office (LGU) initial response, distributing maybe food packs to victims of Typhoon Jolina in the region, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), however, had proven again that it has a sluggish and tardy response system, and not something that will readily respond to a distress call. As usual, aside from its being delayed again for days, the usual aid will but comprise rice, canned goods (often sardines), and coffee, packed in a small box for one family.
Almost as quickly, the agency would argue that it is the local government that is and should be first to respond to disasters. The agency, in fact, has insisted in a statement that “DSWD may come in when they need additional personnel or relief items”, even so they would proudly claim they have “pre-positioned food packs in warehouses in Catarman, Northern Samar; Allen, Northern Samar, Can-avid, Eastern Samar; Catbalogan City, Samar; Naval, Biliran; and Maasin City, Southern Leyte.” The sense of urgency to immediately send truckloads of food to over 10,000 victims region-wide is sadly not in their guidebook.
The pathetic lethargy would have been learned already during the Yolanda experience eight years ago now when it took days and weeks before significant government help arrived at the thousands of victims.
While Jolina’s toll of destruction may come nowhere close to the catastrophic wreck Super Typhoon Yolanda had wrought in the entire region, it certainly is not a reason for the government to be lackadaisical in its emergency response. More so, on its relevant and necessary interventions, to assure needed rebuilding and recovery. Or maybe there is a need for another Yolanda?