EDITORIAL - Slow rebuilding

Even as Bohol and Cebu are still trying to get back on their feet after a killer earthquake and Zamboanga City is starting to rebuild from the ashes, literally, of armed conflict, relief efforts are now diverted to the latest disaster area, Tacloban City.

Over the weekend news reports showed shops being looted in the city. It was an unusual sight in a country visited regularly by all sorts of natural calamities, where the typical image is of crowds waiting calmly for relief assistance to arrive. The looting indicated a breakdown in a disaster relief system that is supposed to be in place across the country. Authorities must determine what went wrong, if only to ensure that such scenes will not be repeated in future calamities.

At the same time, concerned agencies must review the process of rebuilding in the other areas hit by disasters in recent years. Much depends on the efficiency of local government units and cooperation of residents, but support from the national government is obviously crucial.

Many victims of the catastrophic flooding in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan have not yet fully recovered. Farm workers displaced by a powerful typhoon in Davao and Compostela Valley need livelihood opportunities as many plantations will take at least three years to recover. In Zamboanga City, businessmen have expressed concern about the long-term impact of security concerns on the investment climate.

Now comes Tacloban, where rebuilding must wait as people mourn their dead and others search for missing loved ones. Energy officials said it could take up to two months to fully restore electricity in the city. With communication lines slowly coming back, the devastation in many other areas is also being revealed. The suffering must not be aggravated by weak disaster mitigation systems and disorganized efforts to rebuild.