Mark Twain once said, “The calamity that comes is never the one we had prepared ourselves for.” This is somewhat true in light of the recent events that have happened to the country.

We all know that the Philippines is a venue for natural disasters and calamities. Being a neighbor of the Pacific Ocean has its disadvantages; tropical cyclones traverse the country left and right. September 2009 saw one of the greatest typhoon calamities ever to hit Luzon. Typhoon Ketsana, locally known as Ondoy, not only ravaged towns, but also flooded major cities in Manila. Leaving thousands of people homeless and hundreds killed in its wake. One thing that was highlighted through all this adversity was the country’s calamity preparedness.

Recently, the Senate just ratified a 12 billion supplementary budget for the calamity fund; however, if you look closely very few agencies are tasked to impose calamity preparedness for people and cities.

Calamity preparedness still needs a heavy boost in the country. Currently, only three private and government agencies are tasked to taking care of people during the wake of disasters. These are NDCC (National Disaster and Coordinating Council), CDP (Center for Disaster Preparedness), and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme).

These agencies are doing their part in preparing people, but most still do not heed to advice and common sense. When told to evacuate, most people stay and rough it out, to devastating effects most of the time.

All three agencies have done their best, nationally and locally, but still so many things are required. Inculcation of calamity preparedness in education is one thing, appropriate funding is another. With the country being vulnerable to all these calamities, it is essential to know what to do way before disaster strikes.Related Links
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