Gov't response to Yolanda still in a book, newly launched

A few days ago, the government launched the masterplan for the rehabilitation of areas affected by super typhoon Yolanda. Yolanda, whose international name was Haiyan, was the world's strongest typhoon to hit land in all of recorded history. Its 300 kph winds and accompanying storm surge destroyed many areas in the Visayas, with Tacloban being the worst hit city. More than 6,000 were officially listed as dead or missing. There could be more but Noynoy stopped the count at that number.

Come November 8, it will be exactly one year since the tragedy struck. This could be the reason why the government rushed the launching of the rehabilitation masterplan. It probably did not want to be caught empty-handed when the first anniversary of Yolanda swung around. It was also probably the reason why the launching was attended by so much fanfare. Hooplah has a way of distracting people and diverting attention.

But I would really want to ask why there was so much fanfare in launching the Yolanda rehabilitation masterplan when all that was launched was a gigantic book. It was not as if some great author was launching a new bestseller. We are talking about rehabilitation here, and all that the government has come up with is a book on its masterplan?

It is already a few days until the first anniversary of Yolanda, and all that the government wants people to be excited about is a book about a rehabilitation masterplan? One year after the storm and we are still launching a masterplan? By the look of what was launched, it was a very expensive book, beautifully bound, and of which there has to be many copies printed because you do not have that kind of fanfare for just one book.

But for whom are the other copies for? I do not know why there is a need to have a rehabilitation masterplan in a book and then launch it as if it were one of the anticipated sequels to the Game of Thrones series. While I do not want any rehabilitation masterplan to be haphazardly done, neither would I want to waste so much time on appearances, such as coming up with a beautiful book, when what is needed is swift action on the ground.

For what does it matter to the typhoon victims who continue to suffer even to this day, one year after the tragedy, if the rehabilitation masterplan comes in a beautifully gilded book when all they want is to have the problems associated with their dislocation addressed and addressed promptly, practically, and meaningfully. A book will not put food on the table, a roof over the head, clothing on the back, and medicine for the sick.

In launching the rehabilitation masterplan in pompous fashion, it is as if government was sending the message that form and not substance was all that it cared for. Never mind that the rehabilitation masterplan has a hollow ring to it, provided that many people clapped when it was unveiled. No wonder government has been very sparing in disclosing details about the rehabilitation masterplan. Maybe there is nothing to disclose.

Indeed, I had the sinking feeling that shorn of the grandiose terminology such as rehabilitation masterplan, the government really has no plan at all to speak of. And this was very evident in the discussion on ANC as it marked the approaching anniversary of Yolanda. Certain key players in government were asked about their take on rehabilitation after Yolanda. But they might as well have been talking about the moons of Jupiter, of which they know so little, if at all.

To illustrate, one of the panelists, Leyte governor Dominic Petilla, was asked where he is anchoring his response to the disaster. Petilla replied he was banking on the resiliency of people. He might as well have latched his plans to the nearest shooting star. Resiliency is a human characteristic. It is not something the government, any government, can put in place after a storm. Resiliency smells like leaving the people to their own devices.

But apparently liking the terminology, social welfare secretary Dinky Soliman swiftly picked up the word resiliency, using it in her own narrative and adding to it her own two cents worth of embellishment, as if she knew what she was talking about. There they were, discussing how government can help put shattered lives back to normal and they were passing the buck back to the victims by counting on their own resiliency to get back on their feet.

The picture I am getting is that government is almost completely in the dark about what to do. Some of the other government guests in the show also discussed about quick response and first responders but left out the details, as if the terms quick response and first responders are enough to mesmerize people into no longer bothering about what the heck these terms even mean.

The only one who truly made sense in the discussion was the country head of the Taiwan-based Tzu Chi Foundation, who described the contributions they made and how they made it and for what purpose. To this day, Tzu Chi continues to help, as are the many other aid donors and volunteers who have never left and probably will not leave until the victims are well enough to fend for themselves.

Maybe it is the work that these aid donors and volunteers are engaged in that has driven our own government to complacency, of abandoning its own mandate for others to take up. For that is the impression given when one goes to Tacloban and the other affected areas. Much of what you see going up is the handiwork of foreign hands. Our own government's contribution is still in a book, beautifully bound, and launched only days ago.

[email protected].