BY MATÉ ESPINA
AS LUZON was being battered by Typhoon “Rolly”, said to be the world’s strongest storm for 2020, the country’s top leader was nowhere in sight and this led to the trending of #NasaanAngPangulo and #NasaanSiDuterte in social media pages.
More so when President Rodrigo Duterte was conspicuously absent at the national briefing, even virtually, to address the people or even give comfort to those who were severely affected by the super typhoon.
Cabinet members were quick to respond that the President was closely monitoring the situation and has ordered all agencies to respond. But at times like these, when the international world were even sending their thoughts and prayers to our country, an absent president will definitely lead to a lot of questions.
Duterte was reportedly in Davao still and according to his spokesperson, Harry Roque, travel restrictions because of the pandemic, made it impossible for the President to be present at the disaster command center.
Of course that was clearly no excuse as the President could still address the public virtually. And it wasn’t like the typhoon’s presence was unexpected because there were warnings days before it entered the country.
Even the briefing regarding the preparations from the national government was clearly detached from what’s happening on the ground. When the cabinet convened to inform the people, it was five hours after “Rolly” made its first landfall. Worse was watching the ongoing briefing as officials were cocooned in the safety of the command center in one screen while images of “Rolly’s” wrath sent by netizens were coming through another screen as the typhoon was making its second landfall in Albay.
Worse too is the fact that Albay has yet to recover from the effects of Typhoon “Quinta” that also battered their province just a week before “Rolly” came in. Albay Gov. Francis Bichara reported that official records show eight died but more are missing and recovery period may take a long time.
Images of houses covered in mud as lahar overflowed from Mt. Mayon, bringing with it huge boulders, also highlighted the quarrying activities in Albay and Bichara said by the looks of it, some people may not be able to go back to their homes and will have to relocate to other villages.
Bichara also appealed for help from the national government, especially for supplies since there are still thousands in evacuation centers and roads have remained impassable. The governor also said that a week after Quinta, they have yet to receive any assistance from the national government as well.
Thus, when netizens went on social media to slam the president, it was with reason, as it did too during the time of then President Noynoy Aquino who got flacked for his response over super typhoon “Yolanda” despite addressing the people the night before the storm.
Of course defenders of Duterte were quick to slam critics with one tune – the president cannot stop the typhoon. True. But hearing from the president himself that he is on top of the situation, rather than from his alter egos, spells a great difference especially during disasters.
To not hear a whimper from him 24 hours after “Rolly” landed brings even more questions. For Roque to say that the president will address the nation either Sunday or Monday night makes it all the more atrocious.
Memes after memes showing the president is sleeping or indispensable flooded social media. Negrense actor, Dwight Gaston posted, “so far the only one reported missing during the typhoon is the president.”
It is both shocking and sad to watch footages of the disaster even if we were forewarned about it. People on their roofs, the body of a child washed away, mud-covered villages, roads that turned into rivers in fact made it quite unbelievable that less than a dozen reportedly died because of “Rolly”.
Laudable were the clear efforts from local government units and the people themselves who had the foresight to evacuate to higher grounds. “Yolanda” and “Frank” and other strong typhoons that ravaged our countries have provided bitter lessons that many heeded the call to seek refuge even before the storm came in.
All in all, we ought to be thankful that loss of lives were minimized. Damage to properties will likely run into hundreds of millions, even billions, and recovery efforts will take months to years for many. For now, these provinces need all the help they can get and efforts are underway both from government and the private sector.
One other thing that was highlighted was the “information gap” with the absence of ABS-CBN’s regional network news that has been a partner of the national and local governments in disseminating information during such disasters in the past.
In reports, netizens pointed out this gap since some of the areas affected can only be reached before through via free television, especially in far flung areas where internet connection was limited.
All water under the bridge of course. So many buts and ifs and my wish is for our people to see things clearly and make better decisions come 2022./PN
