typhoon
Plans, Funds Needed For Disaster Management
Senator Loren Legarda recently emphasized on the need to allocate sufficient funds and prioritize the implementation of action plans for disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) and climate change adaptation and mitigation (CCAM).
Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, said climate experts have already warned of the grim scenario that nations, especially in Southeast Asia, could face due to the warming climate.
“The newest IPCC Report states that seas will rise by 26-82 centimeters by 2100. Sea level rise is a great threat to small island nations, and for an archipelago like the Philippines, it would mean more floods. We have already seen and experienced the wrath of Yolanda, how the surge of seawater engulfed communities. We cannot prevent a storm, but we can save our communities from devastation if we actually fund and implement our disaster and climate resilience plans without delay,” said Legarda.
“For instance, under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, every province, city and municipality should have a Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (LDRRMO), and every barangay should establish a Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee. Do our LGUs have these local DRRM offices? Are local DRRM officers equipped and trained to carry out their tasks? These local DRRM offices should be created to institutionalize arrangements and measures for reducing disaster risks, and enhance disaster preparedness and response capabilities at all levels,” she added.
The Senator added that with the threat of rising sea levels, LGUs must be ready to confront the worsening floods. To do this, LGUs must update their data on flood hazards and vulnerabilities, invest in flood protection and mitigation, identify safe land for families to live in and implement the solid waste management law at full speed.
“We have seen enough tragedy. Studies that warn us of our vulnerabilities have been coming in every year. Nobody can say we have not been warned. It is time disaster risk reduction and resilience efforts as well as climate adaptation and mitigation measures are given a fair share of the national budget and serious attention by our government and by every citizen,” Legarda concluded.
Who Is In Charge of Local Disaster Management?
By Ike Señeres
PRESIDENT Noynoy Aquino set the right tone when he said that we need not wait for a disaster in order to help each other, because there are many poor people who need our help every day. How I wish that his message will be heard not only by the people in the government, but also by all Filipinos here and abroad. As I see it, he actually issued a call for action, in a way declaring a war against poverty on a daily basis.
I find it amusing that our entire nation was scandalized by the ten billion pesos more or less that was stolen by the pork barrel scam, when in fact the amount was less than 2% of the national budget. Perhaps our national outrage was triggered by the high level of noise that the issue caused in the mass media, but how come no one seems to pay attention to how the rest of the 98% is being spent? Will this not need the same level of noise that the mass media gave to the pork barrel issue?
Our National Government Agencies (NGAs) are the institutions that are supposed to work on a daily basis, and these are the same institutions that are funded on a yearly basis by the General Appropriations Act (GAA). This is what line item budgeting basically means, to appropriate annual budgets to line agencies, instead of appropriating the funds by way of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
By way of comparison, line item budgets are for objective purposes, intended to fund projects that are programmed for implementation by the NGAs. The PDAF on the other hand is, or was intended for subjective purposes, referring to local development projects that could not be “seen” by the Congress from where they sit. The legal fiction here is that only the local people could “see” the need for these projects, supposedly with the guiding “eyes” of their congressman.
As the head of the executive branch of the government, the President is in effect the head of all the NGAs, the same agencies that are supposed to work on a daily basis. In theory, the President does not have to order the actual heads of these agencies to do anything, because they are supposed to think and act on their own, without waiting for the President to tell them what to do. This is what institutions are supposed to do, and that is the reason why they are funded by the Congress to do what they are supposed to do.
What did CNN news anchor Mr. Anderson Cooper mean when he said that there was “no government” in Tacloban? What did he mean when he said that “there was no one in charge”? Was he referring to the local government, or the national government? As a matter of fact, the local Mayor was still around, even if he was practically paralyzed to do anything at all. Was he referring to the national government? Did he not notice that the NGAs were there on the ground from day one?
Considering the fact that the local government was practically paralyzed in Tacloban, there is no debate that the national government was there, and so it is not correct to say that there was “no government”. That said, the only remaining question is whether or not there was someone “in charge”, as asked by Mr. Cooper. As I see it, there was someone “in charge”, even if Cooper did not recognize him. I am sure that there were many local officials of the national government who were there when Cooper was there, but perhaps he was looking for someone higher.
There is no question about the fact that the President is “in charge” of national affairs, whether there is a disaster or not. Same is true about the fact that the Mayor is always “in charge” of local affairs no matter what, period. The case of Tacloban is an obvious exception to the rule, because the Mayor there was a victim himself, aside from the fact that he was left with no means to function. Since Tacloban is a chartered city, is it the reason why the provincial Governor did not see a reason to be the one “in charge”?
President Aquino was correct when he said that in our system, it is the local government that is the first line of defense. The problem is, the general public, as they are fired up by the mass media, would always want the President to be on the scene right away, as if he has nothing else to do. As the news would usually come out, it is even implied that if the President is not on the scene right away, he is probably not doing anything.
I think that it is a dangerous trend to always expect the President to practically behave like a Mayor. It seems that President Aquino is not the type who is not inclined to always hug the headlines, but imagine what will happen if we will have a President in the future who will hug the headlines all the time, in order to satisfy the demand of the general public? What will happen to all the other urgent national concerns that the President is supposed to attend to?
In this time and age of high tech communications, it is more practical to assume that the President would have the means to give instructions to his subordinates wherever they are, and at any time. In reality, the Command Post is where the President is, and from that point, he could order everyone in the bureaucracy and the military to do what they have to do, as they are supposed to do. If the President is not seen on the scene, it does not necessarily mean that he is not doing anything.
For feedback, email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639083159262
Are We Being Punished?
By Erick San Juan
“THE Lord has kept in reserve for a mighty typhoon to rise up against six lands. God’s anger will come upon the islands of Samar and Leyte. A huge typhoon is planned to come over there. There will be disasters through flood.”After reading (again) this paper which was given to me by Marinduque Former Governor Aris Lecaros and kept for over seven months now, it still gives me the goose bumps after realizing what had happened in Central Visayas, Samar and Leyte mostly hit by super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). This document, written and read by Prophet Vincent Selvakumar in April 11, 2013 at the Widen King’s healing prayer congregation at Cuneta Astrodome are reminders to us as a nation – ‘terrible judgments over the Philippines if the nation does not repent and turn to God.’The present leadership has gone through a lot for the past months, disaster after disaster, natural and man-made.
Scandals left and right, in and out the Presidential loop plus the problems involving our neighbor countries that we haven’t resolve yet.Are we being punished as a nation? I have been religiously helping this administration by my frequent advice and warnings through my radio program, my articles and through people I know who are close to President (Noynoy). As an observer of events and as one who is exposed to people’s views and sentiments. Like I always say that we should help this or any administration for whatever bad things that will happen, especially if all of us will be directly affected. But like any other normal people, sometimes we asked ourselves – is the President listening to us, his BOSS?
Haiti Earthquake and Haiyan
We, Filipinos have to be on the lookout for a possible outcome of history repeating itself or people repeating history. What had happened in Haiti might happen here.According to the report of BILL QUIGLEY and AMBER RAMANAUSKAS (How the International Community Failed Haiti): “Despite an outpouring of global compassion, some estimate as high as $3 billion in individual donations and another $6 billion in governmental assistance, too little has changed. Part of the problem is that the international community and non-government organizations (Haiti has sometimes been called the Republic of NGOs) has bypassed Haitian non-governmental agencies and the Haitian government itself.
The Center for Global Development analysis of where the money went concluded that overall. Less than 10% went to the government of Haiti and less than 1% went to Haitian organizations and businesses. A full one-third of the humanitarian funding for Haiti was actually returned to donor countries to reimburse them for their own civil and military work in the country and the majority of the rest went to international NGOs and private contractors.With hundreds of thousands of people still displaced, the international community has built less than 5000 new homes.
Despite the fact that crime and murder are low in Haiti (Haiti had a murder rate of 6.9 of every hundred thousand, while New Orleans has a rate of 58), huge amounts of money are spent on a UN force which many Haitians do not want. The annual budget of the United Nations “peacekeeping” mission, MINUSTAH for 2012-2013 or $644 million would pay for the construction of more than 58,000 homes at $11,000 per home.There are many stories of projects hatched by big names in the international community into which millions of donated dollars were poured only to be abandoned because the result was of no use to the Haitian people. For example, an international organization created a model housing community in Zoranje.
A two million dollar project built 60 houses which now sit abandoned according to Haiti Grassroots Watch.”Actually, there are still more events coming as prophesized by Prophet Selvakumar that will put this nation into more problems. This time it involve diseases. Our country (as prophesized) will be the center for a new kind of disease that will later on spread to the rest of the world. Is this prophecy coincides with the possible widespread ‘medical assistance’ that the United Nations has extended to our poor fellowmen through vaccines?
Again, in Haiti, the poor children were used as guinea pigs for cholera vaccines.The aim of the much-touted new vaccination campaign is to inoculate 100,000 Haitians — mostly children — with 200,000 doses of a vaccine called Shanchol, at $1.85 per dose. Development of Shanchol was financed by the Gates Foundation, and its manufacture is by an Indian company called Shantha Biotechnics. Less than a month ago, Shantha Biotechnics still lacked the WHO approval required for UN agencies to buy the vaccine, because the WHO has continued to argue that cholera vaccines are unnecessary. Miraculously, Shanchol was quickly “pre-qualified” by the WHO on the 29th of September 2013.Despite the claims that the vaccine will alleviate the cholera in Haiti, hardly anything is known about the effects of the vaccines on endemic cholera.
So this vaccination campaign is actually an experiment designed to test just this, and the Haitian children will be the guinea pigs.Parents who agree to submit their children to this campaign will be taking a big chance. Many problems, including deaths, from vaccination campaigns, because vaccines are notorious for shortcomings such as contamination of lots.
(By Dady Chery | Source: Haiti Chery. See also: Farmer relieves himself on Haiti’s dying cholera victims)
Are we going to sit and wait until such man-made disaster will cause havoc again to our poor nation? Forewarned is forearmed. Let us all be vigilant and pray harder that this country’s leaders will lead us all to safety.
“Typhoon Yoling Killed my Father!”
By Linggoy Alcuaz
MY FATHER, Manuel “Manolo” Tuazon Alcuaz, taught me most of what I know about Typhoons. They are created by the heat from the Sun interacting with the sea water. Somehow, this makes the air twirl in a Counter Clockwise direction (In the Northern Hemisphere). In the center of the twirling winds, the centrifugal forces create an Eye that is bright and calm because it has no rain and wind.
The same heat from the Sun is what brings (precipitates) the water up to the sky and creates the clouds that give us rain with or without a typhoon or even just a storm. The tail or rear of the Typhoon has more rain and water than its head or front.
In the Western Pacific of the Northern Hemisphere, typhoons generally turn to the Right. The Angle of this right turn increases as they approach Luzon during the “Habagat” or the Monsoon from the South West. Thus, many Typhoons threaten the Philippines but then turn right to the North East and hit China, the Ryuku Islands (Where Okinawa is) and/or Japan.
The tail of a Typhoon that crosses the Philippine Archipelago is at its South East. Thus, we who live in Metro Manila get more rain from a Typhoon that passes to our North even if it is farther away than one that passes to our South. This was true even in the case of Super Typhoon Yolanda who passed over Northern Panay which is nearer to us than the tip of Northern Luzon. Even those that pass through Southern Tagalog give us less rain than those that pass through Central Luzon.
The Usual Typhoon Season almost coincides with the Habagat Season – late May to Early October. Typhoons that visit as in the latter part of an extended Typhoon Season – late October to December, tend to cross the Philippine Archipelago in the Visayas or even as far South as Mindanao. This is due to the Amihan or Monsoon or Winds from the North East which tend to push South Eastward on the Typhoon and prevent it from turning too much to the right and to the North.
The Typhoons are born as Low Pressure Areas far out in the Pacific Ocean towards the West South West. In the Western Atlantic, they are called Hurricanes. In the East Indian Ocean, they are called Cyclones.
While the twirling winds have an average speed of about 150 km per hour near the center, the forward movement of the whole Typhoon is much slower at an average of about 20 km per hour. Thus, a usual Typhoon can travel almost 500 km in a day.
The slower a Typhoon moves forward the more rain it dumps on a particular place. Since Yolanda was faster both in terms of Center Winds and Forward Movement, we were saved from too much rain but took the brunt of double the average Center Winds.
Finally, my Father warned me of the 180 degree Turn (Reverse) in the Direction of the Wind before and after the Typhoon’s Eye passes and the Vacuum Effect of the Lower Pressure in the Eye of the Storm. He always warned us five children to leave small openings in our windows so as to let the higher internal (house) air pressure go out so as to achieve a balance with the lower external air pressure within the Eye of the Storm.
However, since we lived (and still live in) in Quezon City, he did not educate me regarding Storm Surges and Tsunamis. Also, at that time (the 50’s & 60’s), Flooding was hardly known of in Quezon City.
The few Typhoons who’s Eye passed directly over Metro Manila. I believe it struck at the beginning of a long weekend (Friday to Sunday) created by a Typhoon Holiday. Its Front or Head brought very strong winds from the North. After the Eye passed the winds reversed and came from the South. When they did, they fell our Giant Balete Tree in front of our Home on Balete Drive, New Manila, Quezon City. By the end of the weekend my Father was dead.
He had long wanted to cut the Tree because its roots were destroying our water and sewerage pipes. However, my elder siblings begged him not to. And so, he just cut its roots on its South side which is where our House was. He dug a hole in the Adobe along the North West side of our House and poured a solid “Buhos” underground wall. Henceforth, the Balete’s Roots (They are also Vines that come from the branches and take root in the ground and spread out far and wide.) would no longer be able to go beneath our Home like Serpents out to Strangle Us.
And now, fast forward from Yoling to Yolanda.
Yolanda came on Friday, Nov 8, 2013. The day after she bulldozed and cut her way through Eastern, Central and Western Visayas as well as parts of the Mimaropa Region, we (my wife Baby, daughter Cudchie and son Mikko, who still live on Balete Drive but no longer threatened by either a Balete or Rubber Tree.) tried to understand the Storm Surge Phenomenon.
I first heard or read about Storm Surges in relation to the Eastern Seaboard of the USA. The closest I experienced the effects of a Storm Surge was when Wind and Tide combined to cross Roxas Blvd. and flood the basements of several building including the Westin Plaza and the Diamond Hotel. The former is where the Bulong Pulungan is held on Tuesday lunch. The latter is where the former Kapihan sa Manila Hotel of PDI Columnist Neal Cruz is now held on Mondays.
Tacloban and the neighboring towns had a higher and stronger Storm Surge than even the more exposed Southern Towns of Eastern Samar. Yolanda achieved the fastest recorded Center Winds at its first Landfall in Eastern Samar. At subsequent Landfalls in Leyte, Northern Cebu, Northern Panay and Northern Palawan the Velocity of winds near the Center gradually went down. The highest Velocities were probably maintained for the Leyte Landfall because Yolanda’s path was South of the main Samar land mass and mountains.
Since the rotation of the winds was Counter Clockwise, the Higher Storm Surges that swept up (Northwards) the Leyte Gulf must have occurred after the Eye of the Typhoon passed the middle of the Leyte Gulf. Since the Northern part of the Gulf is narrowed by the meeting of Samar and Leyte Islands (Up to the San Juanico Strait), the “Embudo” effect occurred. Eastern Samar, Cebu, Panay and Palawan were spared the “Embudo” effect. However, Ormoc City is inside the South facing Ormoc Bay. This area must have been hit by a lower Storm Surge because by the time the Eye passed over Western Leyte, it had been slowed down by the mountains of Central Leyte. Also, Ormoc Bay is smaller than the Leyte Gulf. Thus, the “Embudo” effect is smaller.
A flashback in History: in October 1944, the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet (much bigger in numbers than today’s Seventh Fleet) defeated the Japanese Imperial Navy in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Although, the Battles were fought from as far North as off Cape Engano in the North Eastern tip of Cagayan province and as far West as the China Sea off Palawan, as well as in the Sibuyan Sea, the most famous portion is what is called “Crossing the ‘T’ at Surigao Strait”. This was the Classic Dream Sea Battle of Admirals since time immemorial. It was the last time that Surface Fleets would fight it out cannon to cannon with Battleships and Gun Cruisers.
What a Dream Rescue and Relief Mission this must be for today’s US Navy!
Surviving Yolanda
by the Editors
MILLIONS of Filipinos suffered the wrath of super typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan). There are countless tales of death, loss and survival especially from Tacloban City, Leyte, which bore the brunt of the tropical cyclone.
Via a post on her Facebook account, Sheena Junia, 26, a close relative of OpinYon Chairman and President Ray Junia recounted how she had to surf the typhoon’s huge waves to save herself.
Here’s Sheena’s story:
Loud Bang
She woke up around 5 a.m. of Friday, because of a loud bang on her door. It was the wind, much powerful than she was used to hearing. She could hear window glasses breaking from her neighbors’ houses. It sounded like the burst of automatic gunfire. Bad weather, she thought. She knew a strong typhoon was hitting the province. She saw it yesterday in the news. What she did not know was that it was going to be that strong.
Sheena tried to go back to sleep. She wanted to because she was too scared to listen to the howling wind. Maybe if she slept for a few more hours, it would go away. After two more hours of sleep, another huge bang on the door woke her up. This time, the wind was too strong that it knocked the door off, and then floodwater rushed in. She got up in a hurry. Her bed was submerged in water in seconds. It was now knee-deep inside her room. She hurried to get dressed but just after two minutes, the water has reached her waistline. It took her another two minutes to get her backpack and reach her new surfboard. It just arrived the day before. By then, the water was now neck-deep.
Surfing the Waves
Sheena mounted her surfboard and paddled her way out of the house. She couldn’t see anything. It was foggy, the water was black, and the wind was too strong that it was hard to keep her eyes open. But she kept paddling. She paddled against the strong current until she reached the entrance of their compound in Barangay Sagkahan Mangga, Tacloban City. She was hoping to find someone, but she could not see anyone or anything. Sheena said she decided to swim along the current which she knew would lead her to the back of the compound. There, she saw stairs that led to a door. She immediately paddled her way towards it, and tried to open it but it was locked.
She quickly stopped and noticed her bag was becoming too heavy, so she did away with some of its contents. They’re not important now.
If the water continued to rise, she might get trapped, she thought.
She knew she could not stay there, so she rode her surfboard again and paddled as hard as she could against the strong current to reach the front of the compound again. She saw a steel bar protruding from one of the broken walls nearby. She reached for it and held on to it tightly. Her surfboard kept her afloat. Every time the waves would hit her, she would fall off. But she was holding onto the steel bar so tight that she always managed to recover. She fell into the water about 4 times.
What felt like forever standing there-falling off-standing there-and falling off again was just really about 10 minutes.
The water kept rising, and brought with it more wood and other debris every time she opened her eyes. Sheena saw a woman floating. The woman—in her late 20s or early 30s—was alive. She appeared calm. The woman looked at her. She looked back. They both knew none of them would be able to do anything. She had to let the woman float away.
Call for Help
Sheena was just about to lose all her strength when she saw a group of people. In that group was a pregnant woman and a child–breaking a door open from a balcony nearby. She called for help. Most of them did not hear her, or maybe tried to ignore her. After a few more calls, one of the strangers looked at her direction. That gave her some comfort. There was nowhere she could plant her feet. She held on a window grill to start her way. She moved from one window to another until she reached the spot near where the other people were.
She was holding on to the grill, and her surfboard. She had to let one go so she can reach out for the hand of one of the strangers.
She took a leap of faith, and ditched her surfboard.
“I almost fell and barely made it,” she said.
The water was continuing to rise when she got to the balcony. They needed to move to the next house which was bigger. They passed through gutters and scaffolds. They all made it safely to the house, even if she slipped a few times. A few scratches here and there but nothing she was worried about it.
Riding the Storm Out
They stayed there, watching people drown to death outside. They could not do anything. This went on until around 10:30 am when the wind died down a bit. They started to help whoever they can.
Around 11 am, the water started subsiding, slowly unfolding the devastation caused by the strongest typhoon ever recorded in recent times.
Sheena remembers seeing a lot of dead bodies. Almost all houses in her neighborhood were destroyed. She had to stay at a friend’s house for three days. For the next few days, Sheena went out with her friends to look for food. Her friends have always treated her as one of the boys, so she went out to loot with them.
She remembers going to Robinson’s or Gaisano–malls that had supermarkets. “Literal na hanap buhay,” she said. (We literally looked for anything that can help keep us alive.)
She’s not proud of it—the looting.
“We had to do it to survive,” she said.
Hunger and Thirst
She remembers being thirsty, and trying to buy a small bottle of tea for PhP200. But they would not sell it to her. She remembers trying to ride a pedicab offering to pay a thousand pesos, but the driver did not want money. They wanted water as payment. She had none.
Sheena arrived in Manila Tuesday, Nov. 13, night via a commercial flight. She now has fever. She feels weak. She said whatever happened to her is just starting to sink in. She said she does not want to go back to Tacloban, but she has not heard from her mother and grandfather who lived in Tolosa town.
If she does not hear from them in the next few days, she will come back to Tacloban and look for them.
Sheena used to operate airport vans in Tacloban for a living. She does not know how she’ll start again.
“I won’t be able to make plans until I know my family is safe.”
Sheena’s fight for survival goes on.
Related articles
- Rappler Newscast Special Edition | November 16, 2013 (rappler.com)
- Surfing the waves of Haiyan for survival (rappler.com)
- INC conducts ‘Lingap sa Mamamayan’ relief and medical mission in Tacloban City (businessmirror.com.ph)
- After Yolanda: When prioritizing the living over the dead is just another option (examiner.com)
- Meeting a monster: First person account (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- Typhoon Yolanda death toll nears 6,000, Justin Bieber visits Tacloban (theglobaldispatch.com)
- Romualdez recounts how gov’t withheld help in ‘Yolanda’ aftermath (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned (vixsterbee.wordpress.com)
- In the eye of the storm: TV reporter tells his story (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
- Politics, lack of command hound Tacloban (rappler.com)
In Defense of Small Businesses
by Ike Señeres
AS WE see vivid images of super typhoons devastating our islands, we should also be reminded of the very strong economic storms that are already hitting our country every day now, causing daily damage that could cost more than a series of storms and earthquakes could possibly cause. As we talk about the apparent lack of preparations to address these natural disasters, we should also be reminded that we are not prepared for these economic storms either, with practically none of the so called “safety nets” in place.
It is a good thing that natural storms could be forecasted. Economic storms on the other hand do not need any forecasts, because these are certain to come, and in fact they already have. As we speak, local products are being clobbered in the local markets, and scores of small businesses and small factories have already closed. The damage is already being felt, even before the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is fully in place by 2015, and even before all the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements will be fully implemented.
One way or the other, the natural storms that are coming to our shores would have something to do with climate change and global warming, even if it could be argued that storms would naturally happen even without these two factors. That said however, regardless of what side of the argument you are with, there is no argument that the effects of climate change and global warming would definitely affect small businesses and small factories, as it has already happened in many cases. When we say small businesses, it should already include the business of farmers and fishermen.
I remember that when the issue of “safety nets” was discussed many years ago, there was a consensus that the government should not count all projects that all the projects that are in the normal course of public services delivery. What that means is that the government should come up with new and original “safety nets” that would be on top of, and different from what are normally provided by them. At that time, nobody really knew what that meant, and that is still the case now.
In the lack of understanding what “safety nets” would really mean, I would instead define it to mean anything and everything that would make a local product survive the onslaught of foreign products. Actually it should not be limited to plain and simple survival alone, because it should objectively mean success in the local and foreign markets, defined in terms of gross sales and market shares. I will add to that the fact that this boils down to product competitiveness. If that sounds to you like a sink or swim scenario, you are right, because that is what it really is, and much more than that, it is actually a life or death situation.
By comparison, I would say that dealing with a natural storm is easier than dealing with an economic storm. On the part of many local politicians, that could be as simple as delivering a few relief goods and taking lots of pictures. There is really no need for a closure, because the actions would end as soon as the evacuation centers are vacated, and that is it. In the case of economic storms however, the first line of casualties are not people, so there is really no rush for dramatic photo opportunities.
In the case of economic storms, the local products in the local markets are the first to die, and their deaths would ultimately result in the death of the factories, being the second line of defense. It could be said that the third line of defense would be among the ranks of the workers who would lose their incomes as their jobs would also die. Complicated as the sequence would appear to be, the cause of it all is the death of local products, and that is where we should fight back first, to make our products more competitive, so that these could stand up strongly to the foreign invaders and win the fights too.
Making products more competitive is a no brainer, because there is a science behind that. As a matter of fact, many big local companies have already perfected that science, and many of their products are now doing very well in the local and global markets. The rules of the marketing game are very clear. Aside from having a good product, what are needed are good product positioning, good branding, good labelling, good packaging and good advertising. There is no way out of these rules, because companies would have to play the game or die.
Again by comparison, the big companies could very well stand up on their own, and would therefore not need any help from the government. Obviously, the only ones that would need help from the government are the small businesses and the small factories. This is not really a new discovery, because we have known this all along. For so many years now, we have also heard many government agencies reporting that they are implementing programs along this line, but nothing seems to stick, and we are not seeing local products winning in the local and global markets.
The lack of financing is often said to be the cause of local product failure. That could be true, but in reality, any product doing well in the market should not have any problem in getting investors. And if the product is really doing well, the cash flow would be good too, and the only need for more financing would be for expansion purposes. We should really aspire to produce more local products that are global winners. Otherwise, we will just be a consumer economy, found at the lower end of the value chain, with no value added of our own.
For feedback, email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639083159262
Related articles
- Op-Ed Contributor: The Truth About Tornadoes (nytimes.com)
- Meteorologists Warn of a Future Rife with More Haiyan-Strength Storms (inhabitat.com)
- UN Climate Summit Rejects Its Own Science – Links Typhoon Haiyan to Global Warming – UN Summit Degenerates Into Unscientific Claims to Advance Political Agenda – Climate Depot Special Report (climatedepot.com)
- The Conscious Consumer Goes Mainstream (thehartford.com)
- Scientists reject Typhoon Haiyan link to man-made global warming: Storm expert Brian McNoldy of U. of Miami: ‘We don’t get to pick and choose which storms are enhanced by a warmer climate and which ones aren’t’ (climatedepot.com)
- AFTA gab slated in Bukidnon (mindanews.com)
- Extreme Weather Part II: Extreme Weather Is On The Horizon (thehartford.com)
- Climate Change: It’s Now or Never (jamiesoule.wordpress.com)
- Typhoon Haiyan exposes different perspectives on a warming planet (abc.net.au)
- Yolanda: Disaster, devastation and hope. (melisalerue.com)
Storm Surge
by Raymund L. Junia
I GREW up in the biggest barangay of this small town, Tolosa, Leyte. This barangay, and the town proper, faces the Pacific Ocean. In our side of the country, a typhoon is no stranger. We’re used to typhoons. But this does not mean, we neglect any typhoon’s fury. I find the debate on storm surge interesting, the term not being understood. One journalist described it as a new phenomenon. Ted Failon, who comes from Leyte, admits he does not understand the meaning of storm surge. That really surprised me.
In my elementary days in the barrio, I remember every time there was a typhoon, we had our own “coast guards”. They took turns in watching the sea level and ready to issue a “bandillo” (public warning) on the rising of the sea level and imminent flooding of the barangay. There being no satellite warning on TV then, this was the method of early warning to prevent deaths from big waves and rising sea levels—a storm surge.
That many lives were spared and saved from Yolanda’s fury in my town, I think this primitive early warning system did it. Although folks way back home say San Miguel saved lives in the middle of Yolanda’s strike. On San Miguel saving the town, I very much agree. Our patron saint had always come to the rescue of this town. Another interesting fact is, until this writing, people in most Yolanda-ravaged areas are still asking where is government?
The dead littered the streets of Tacloban and nearby towns until the sixth day after the typhoon. Relief has not reached barangays and towns just 20 kilometers from Tacloban City. Relief was active only in media but zero at the ground. Media was well managed but not the relief operations. Media was managed not to tell the truth. Malacañang’s problem was that it could not manage foreign media like CNN, ABC news and others. They could not control social media also.
How media was managed could be seen from the reaction of ABS-CBN channel 2 over reports by CNN of absence of government at ground Zero. Korina Sanchez embarrassed herself in her refuting reports by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. She was swarmed in social media by accusations of her impartiality in defense of Pres. Aquino leadership and for lying bare faced on the true situation in Leyte.
Easily, Korina Sanchez stood out as a disgrace to Philippine journalism.
CNN is the new shining example if not the hero in true journalism and Channel 2 lost much of its credibility.
Enough lies please.
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- WHAT IF? A Doomsday Scenario (opinyon2010.wordpress.com)
This week: WHAT IF? A Doomsday Scenario
“WHAT if a disaster of cataclysmic proportions hits Metro Manila, home to more than 15 million Filipinos—and the seat of the nation’s capital? Are we ready to cope? Thousands of lives will be lost and casualties can run to millions. It will be a harrowing sight that will surely bring the nation to its knees. That is, if we consider the potential disasters on a grand scale, such as the recent earthquake in Bohol and typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) that razed big parts of Leyte to the ground. What if, instead of the Visayas, Yolanda took a path straight through the heart of the National Capital Region?” – Frederick Fabian
Find out more in this week’s incoming issue of OpinYon! Available in National Book Store, Powerbooks Store and Fully Booked!
Help Typhoon Yolanda Victims in Leyte
The OpinYon Relief Ops is asking everyone to join us in helping our fellow Filipinos affected by Typhoon Yolanda in Leyte. You can send donations in either cash or kind (canned goods/old clothes/blankets/non-perishables) to Musikgarten Manila in Robinsons Galleria, EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue, or the OpinYon Editorial Office in San Pedro, Laguna. Please share this poster as much as you can so more people can help. Thank you very much! Let’s match our words with deeds.
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- Unity Amidst Typhoon Yolanda’s Fury (filipinismo.wordpress.com)
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