No lessons learned

Because tropical cyclones can be tracked and disaster preparedness is therefore possible, zero casualty has been the target since the previous administration during typhoons.

As of last night, however, the confirmed death toll from Typhoon Ompong stood at 74, with 57 still missing at the site of a landslide that buried dozens of small-scale miners and their families in Barangay Ucab in Itogon, Benguet.

Weather forecasters had issued sufficient warning about the strength of Typhoon Ompong and its heavy rainfall. Itogon, like the rest of Northern Luzon, was along the direct path of the typhoon. Its mayor Victoria Palangdan said he deployed policemen to evacuate residents along the slopes, but the dead or missing miners in Ucab refused and instead sought shelter in a bunkhouse near the entrance to an abandoned mine.

Could the local government have done more to save lives? Officials are authorized to carry out forced evacuation in the face of imminent danger. This tragedy should impart indelible lessons on disaster preparedness to the Itogon government as well as residents.

Whether the lessons will be learned is uncertain. The country has suffered some of the worst natural calamities, and enough post-disaster assessments have been made together with proposals for disaster mitigation. Some of the proposals have been implemented. But warnings on identified danger zones continue to be ignored.

Yesterday the government announced that the Department of Interior and Local Government would launch a probe on the possible negligence of 10 mayors from worst-hit Cagayan and the Cordillera Administrative Region who were reported to be missing in action as Ompong battered northern Luzon over the weekend.

Aside from filing criminal and administrative cases, however, protocols and capabilities must be enhanced for evacuation – forced when necessary – during approaching natural calamities. Initial resentment and resistance of those who are forced to evacuate will quickly dissipate once they see that it has saved lives.