People and Property
Every once in a while a big calamity strikes somewhere
and causes a lot of destruction to both people and property.
Usually, it doesn’t choose its location so
both low-end and high-end property are affected
and both rich and poor people go through devastation.
Although the rich has more options to run to when disasters
like these happen.
After a while there is only the usual clamor for donations
for those who got affected.
I’m all for the donations for these struck by the calamities
but I’m the type who just keeps quiet about it.
Not that I condone those who declare their donations
for after all these are needed for transparency.
But I am not writing this for donations for those who
were struck by these calamities.
I am writing to ask why we cannot do anything
to prepare for them or make better precautions.
Think of it this way.
If you had a harddisk full of your files and digital media
more often than not you would have saved it in
an extra storage device, say a flash drive or SD card.
Why? Because you regard these as important and
you’d hate to lose them.
If you were in charge of a group for disaster prevention
would it be so hard to think of the people and property
as your personal files and digital media?
I can’t accept that crap about not having the budget for
buying the equipment necessary to prepare and address
these situations.
I can’t because just by simple computation of the amount
of VAT paid in a month by almost all the establishments
and businesses in my country, it would be impossible
not to have the budget for it.
Try this, get a receipt from your last fastfood meal,
get the VAT amount printed in it,
and multiply it by the population of our country.
That’s how much VAT they get in a month only!
Multiply it by a dozen months then you’ll get an estimate
of the VAT they receive in a frigging year!
And that’s only from eating in a fastfood restaurant.
We have the technology to detect weather changes
so much so that we would have enough time to prepare the
people for the proper evacuation prior to calamities happening.
Shortsightedness.
We sadly evacuate them to places that are in the same area
of the calamity
only difference is they are schools and basketball courts.
Similar to coralling a herd of sheep into a fenced area
which is also going to be ravaged by a storm.
Some simple questions when planning.
So we have a calamity going to strike.
What areas are going to be affected?
Where is the area most accessible for the people to transfer to
that would be kilometers away from the affected area?
What vehicles could be used to transfer them?
How many days or hours prior to the calamity should they be transferred?
What accommodations can be used for them?
Could we possibly prepare tents and portalets
in open areas that they are to transfer to, just like a big jamboree?
Food and clothing?
How about this suggestion.
Areas that are calamity-prone must have some types of committees
that would have a collection program where the residents themselves
would give say a hundred or two a month as “reserve money”
for food when disaster strikes.
After all, we already know which areas are calamity-prone.
These committees must have a legal identity and total transparency
in collecting these “reserve money” so that there would be no trouble
when the time comes to use it for such purposes.
Then waiting for the donations of food wouldn’t be too hard.
Clothing?
If these people are evacuated early enough
then they would be prepared enough to bring their clothes.
Donated clothes would then be supplementary.
How much does a boat cost?
The type they use in the Amazon river when hunting for dangerous animals?
How many people fit in these kinds of boats at a time
for rescue and transfer missions?
I’ve lived for many decades
and seen and gone through many calamities in our country.
But I have never seen a calamity here that was averted
because the proper preventive measures
and emergency responses were made.
We brag so much about being natives of our country
that we can hold our own against anyone in the world
But in reality, we don’t really care much about keeping
ourselves safe when calamity strikes.
With or without the help of our most of the time,
incompetent or unskilled or unprepared or ill-equipped government people
and yes, even leaders during times of calamities.
It’s pretty simple really.
Most of us are more organized without them.
By them, I mean our government.
If we just form our own groups to monitor small areas
at a time and implement disaster prevention measures
on our own regardless of what level in society our neighbors are
then there would be less deaths and destruction to property.
Honestly, if we asked ourselves,
if our government didn’t have money
and it was dirt poor
do any of us think that when calamity strikes
these so-called leaders would dig from their own pockets
and send money for food and clothing for the victims?
Do you think they would use their own luxury cars
to fetch people who are stranded in flooded areas?
Maybe a handful would
But most of them would be out of town faster than us.
Making sure their own families and properties are safe.
Because after the calamity, they would have the
personal money to rebuild what they have lost.
Sometimes I don’t want to see videos of those calamities
because it makes me feel so helpless
even if I send money and other goods
I know it would never be enough to help them rebuild
what shouldn’t have been destroyed if there was just
proper planning
Nor can I go to the offices of those people
in charge of disaster prevention and emergency response,
in charge of the budget,
in charge of signing those legal papers they need, even the leaders themselves
and punch their faces for irresponsibility and neglect
The calamities we go through aren’t hurricanes or tsunamis
they are superstorms and floods
preventable
solvable
reversible
But only if we choose to help ourselves
instead of relying too much on a group
to save us time and time again
but has never succeeded
since the first type of our government was put into place.
Maybe we can’t do it yet
organize ourselves, I mean.
Maybe it’s not the nature of our countrymen to be organized
in this way.
Maybe we’re just better at addressing a problem when it has happened like being reactive than pro-active.
Everyday, for every calamity, people ask me to donate
what good would it do if the money and the goods
doesn’t really reach those who need it
What then?
I have already given money but through a group that
I have trusted for many years for their transparency.
If only there was a way to see
how much has been donated in total everyday
and how much of these donations in both cash and kind
has reached those who need it
then maybe, just maybe there would be sincerity
in the effort to help and rebuild
each time disaster strikes
Maybe.
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