UP Forum January-February 2012

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

FORUM VOLUME 13 NUMBER 1

JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2012

Mapping Our Way to Disaster Risk Reduction Management

By Celeste Ann Castillo Llaneta

I

t is said that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Indeed, for most Filipinos the most striking memories of tropical storm Sendong, which rampaged across eastern to northwestern Mindanao last December 16 and 17, are the images of the death and destruction left in its wake. Nothing transmitted the sheer devastation caused by the floods that hit Cagayan de Oro and Iligan Cities more powerfully than the photographs of muddied corpses, flattened houses, weeping parents and orphaned children wandering dazedly among the wreckage.

Dr. Alfredo Mahar Lagmay, leader of the geohazards group of the UP Padayon Disaster

Response Team fielded by UP to Iligan City on December 27 and 28, presented a slightly different set of pictures in his group’s report to the UP community in January 2012. Among these pictures are aerial shots of the tailend of Mandulog River in Iligan City and photographs of Orchid Home Subdivision in Santiago, Iligan, both before and after the floods. The comparison between the two sets of photos is jarring.

The neat, meandering ribbon of a river bordered by villages and trees had become a swollen, murky mess.

Where trees and villages had been, only mud, fallen logs and debris were left. And where a community of gated houses once stood, only crushed vegetation,

twisted metal and shattered concrete remained.

The group’s written report describes it thus: “The 250-350 mm of rain dumped in the watershed of Mandulog River during tropical storm Sendong and the location of the communities in the lowland floodplains was a perfect mix for a disaster. The stream network in the uplands amassed the rains and packed the Mandulog River with water, generating a flash flood that swept everything in its path…Flood waters 7 to 10 meters high rampaged beyond the banks of the river, and wiped out villages with incomprehensible force. It took the Mandulog River less than five MAPPING OUR WAY, p. 2

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FORUM January-February 2012 Photo by Fred Dabu

MAPPING OUR WAY, from p. 1 minutes to fill its floodplains, land which people appropriated for themselves.”

“Human” disasters The definition of disaster has undergone shifts over the decades.1 Up until the 1970s, the dominant view was that disasters and natural events such as earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis were all the same. Disasters were acts of God, unavoidable and inevitable, and for many governments and international agencies, the emphasis was on responding to such events, and perhaps ideally preparing for them. From the 1970s onward, interest grew in implementing Post-Sendong Orchid Homes Subdivision, December 29, 2011 ways to mitigate losses through physical and structural measures, although physical do. A typhoon occurring over a desert island is a natural mitigation efforts have been minimal in many event. A typhoon occurring over a highly populated area, destroying houses and killing hundreds, is a countries.

In the 1980s and 1990s, social scientists and disaster. “Essentially, disasters are human-made,” researchers in the humanities revealed that the impact writes Emmanuel de Guzman, consultant, Asian of a natural hazard depends not only on the physical Disaster Reduction Center and United Nations structures, but also on the capacity of people to absorb Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairsthe impact and recover from loss or damage. The focus Asian Disaster Response Unit. 2 “A catastrophic turned toward social and economic vulnerability, event, whether precipitated by natural phenomena and to the developmental processes that generated or human activities, assumes the state of disaster different levels of vulnerability. Vulnerability and risk when the community or society affected fails to cope. reduction emerged as a key strategy in reducing the Natural hazards themselves do not necessarily lead impact of disasters. After the 1990s, risk management to disasters. Natural hazards…translate to disasters and reduction became the standard paradigm on only to the extent that the population is unprepared to the premise that every single human development respond, unable to cope, and consequently, severely activity has the potential to increase or reduce risk affected. The vulnerability of humans to the impact of natural hazards is to a significant extent determined of disaster.

In short, nature doesn’t create the disaster; humans by human action or inaction.”

With typhoon after typhoon battering the country and wreaking havoc on lives and property, the sheer repetitiveness of it all has become a source of frustration for many. “[We have seen this happen] over and over again. Same problem; only the places change,” says Lagmay, who heads the Volcano-Tectonics Laboratory and Environment Monitoring Laboratory of the UP National Institute of Geological Sciences.

“And the way we treat this is: [the disaster] happens and we respond. It’s all over the media, and we’re all concerned.

But in the interim, in between disasters, not much attention is given to [preparing for it].”

This predominantly reactive manner of dealing with disasters is part of the old paradigm for disaster. And this is not limited to the Philippines alone. “In the 1990s, disaster risk management was more about postdisaster relief and recovery, and there wasn’t much thought given to what could be done to prevent and reduce the impact of disasters,” Abhas Jha, the World Bank coordinator for disaster risk management in East Asia and the Pacific, was quoted in an article published in Development Asia in March 2011.3 “Now, governments are much more focused on prevention and risk reduction. Finance and planning ministries are recognizing the benefits of investments in disaster risk reduction.”

“Disasters are now viewed as a product of failure in development planning,” says Lagmay. “If we know through science and technology where the hazard areas are, and you let people develop in those areas and allow MAPPING OUR WAY, p. 3

U P P a d a y o n D i s a s t e r R e s p o n s e Te a m i n

By Andre Encarnacion

T

his is the first time that the UP as one system took the lead in extending help to a typhoon-ravaged area, making UP Padayon Disaster Response Team the flagship voluntarism service program of the University of the Philippines.

December 16 and 17, 2011 Tropical Storm ‘Sendong’ (international name ‘Washi’) hits Northern Mindanao, submerging much of Cagayan de Oro (CDO) and Iligan City,; and causing severe casualties and infrastructure damage. A National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) report one day before the storm struck shows that it carried about 50 milliliters of rainwater—almost as much as typhoon ‘Ondoy’ in 2009—to an area that does not often see tropical storms or typhoons. It has since been called “the strongest storm to hit Mindanao since 1980.”

December 18 As news of the devastation reaches Filipinos worldwide through media reports and other channels, University of the Philippines (UP) President Alfredo E. Pascual initiates an organized response to the disaster and asks UP Vice-President for Public Affairs (VPPA) J. Prospero de Vera III to bring UP units together for a quick response—an initiative that would eventually lead to the creation of the UP Padayon Disaster Response Team.

December 19 Upholding its mandate to provide various forms of community service and technical assistance to the government under its 2008

charter, UP forges a partnership with Sen. Koko Pimentel to assist Iligan City. At that time, Iligan received less media and national attention compared to Cagayan de Oro City.

VPPA de Vera and VP for Academic Affairs Gisela Concepcion meet with representatives of UP Manila, Philippine General Hospital (PGH), National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS) and the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development, Inc. (PAFID) to assess the situation and the capacity of UP to extend assistance to the affected communities. At the meeting, they decide on a post-disaster rehabilitation engagement and a limited stay of two to three days.

December 21 UP Padayon Disaster Response Team is formalized at the UP Center for Integrative Development Studies (UCIDS) as a disaster-response mission to assist Iligan City. It is composed of four groups: 1. Medical group – thirteen volunteers led by Dr. Eric Talens of the UP-PGH 2. Public health and sanitation group – three volunteers led by Prof. Buenalyn Teresita Ramos-Mortel of the UP Manila College of Public Health 3. Forensics group – five volunteers led by Dr. Raquel Fortun of the UP College of Medicine 4. Geo-hazards Group – nine volunteers led by Dr. Alfredo Mahar Francisco Lagmay of the UP NIGS December 26 The team holds its pre-departure meeting at the BOR room, Quezon Hall to finalize its plans.

December 27 The team flies to Iligan City.

The medical, public health and forensic groups arrive on different flights.

VP de Vera and Dr. Ferdinand Llanes, OVPPA project development associate, together with City Councilor Frederick Siao and an NGO representative, visit Barangay Mangdulog in the morning for an overview of the situation. They later meet with Mayor Lawrence Cruz and the city administrator to coordinate the work of the team.

At 7:15 pm, the team holds its mission briefing at the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technoloy (MSU-IIT) with Councilor Frederick Siao, Chancellor Sukarno Tanggol and other officials.

They discuss itinerary, coordination with local counterparts, logistics and other concerns.

December 28 At 7:50 am, the groups begin deployment to their respective locations:  Department of Health (DOH) -Center for Health Development Northern Mindanao (CHDNM) (Public health group)  Barangay Digkilaan (Medical group)  Capin Funeral Homes, but diverted to MSI-IIT (Forensics group)  Iligan City Hall to coordinate with local counterparts (Geo-hazards group) At 10:00 am, VP de Vera and Dr. Llanes meet with the Geo-hazards group at the City Hall.

Public Health Group At around 8:00 AM, the group is oriented at the DOH-CHDNM Health Emergency Staff Operation CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS, p. 3

FORUM January-February 2012 3 MAPPING OUR WAY, from p. 2 the population to grow, the event that will happen in the future will bring forth a lot of damage, and that is precisely the kind of disaster we want to avoid.”

The letter of the law The Philippine national government has put in place laws that aim to steer the country toward disaster preparedness and risk and reduction management.

Such laws include Republic Act (RA) No. 9729 (Climate Change Act of 2009) and RA 10121 (Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010).

In fact, during the United Nations Settlement Program’s 6th Asian City Journalists Conference held last October 2011, Prof. Rajob Shaw of the International Environmental and Disaster Management Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies at Kyoto University praised the Philippine disaster response model as one that must be replicated in Japan and elsewhere in the world. Among the points he singled out were the calamity fund (known under RA 10121 as the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, which is a minimum of five percent of the estimated revenue of a local government unit); the high visibility of the Philippine president during relief efforts which could stimulate national and international assistance; and the extent of youth participation in pre- and post-disaster relief operations, as in city-planning and decision-making.

The bad news according to Shaw is the lack of specific mitigation projects in the Philippines in post-disaster setting and the lack of efforts to change the mindset of the people—such as the people’s stubborn refusal to leave their houses and belongings even under threat of being swept away in a flood.

Then Sendong happened, with almost the same results seen before in Metro Manila with Ondoy, in Northern Luzon with Pepeng, and in Pampanga and Bulacan with Pedring and Quiel. Accusations flew, MAPPING OUR WAY, p. 10

Quick Facts Where is Iligan?

Iligan City, approx. 800 km southeast of Manila, is located in Northern Mindanao, Region X. It was created on June 16, 1950 under RA 525. It has a land area of 81,337 hectares and a population of 308,046 (Aug. 2007 NSO Census.)

Source: http://www.iligan.gov.ph/index. php?option=com_content&task=view&id=362 &Itemid=533 What is Padayon?

The UP Padayon Disaster Response Team was organized by UP President Pascual “to provide immediate, strategic and effective technical assistance to Iligan City in the aftermath of Typhoon Sendong. Padayon is a Bisayan term (http://up.edu.ph/features.php?i=396) which means “onward.” UP Padayon opted to help Iligan City because it received less medical and technical assistance compared with Cagayan de Oro City. The disaster response groups of UP Padayon and the individuals involved are the following: 1. The Medical Health Group led by Dr. Eric Talens is composed of Dr. Lunalinda Luz, Dr. Carlos Primera Gundran, Dr. Namnama Villarta, Dr. Sharon Madrinan, Dr. Anselmo Tronco, Dr. Carlos Castro, Dr. Kenny Lloyd Taborada, Dr. Cristina Ruiz Bolaton, Jonathan Bismonte, Davis Tan, Frederick Dabu and Arlene Agulto. UP alumni who volunteered to assist the group are Dr. Elizabeth VegaJustiniano, Dr. Claire Sunio-Aguirre and Dr. Abel Gomez.

2. The Public Health and Sanitation Group led

by Prof. Buenalyn Teresita Ramos-Mortel is

composed of Prof. Mark Daniel De Luna and Prof. Diocel Harold Aquino.

3. The Forensic Group organized by Dr. Corazon De Ungria is composed of Dr. Raquel DR Fortun, Dr. Ma. Cecilia Lim, Gayvelline Calacal and Minerva Sagun.

4. The Geohazards Group led by Dr. Alfredo Mahar Lagmay is composed of Mark Lapus, Likha Minimo, Rich Ybañez, Rodrigo Narod Eco, Irene Crisologo, Bernard Alan Racoma, Claris Canta and Corinne Mae Estrella.

What is a geohazard map?

Geologic-hazard maps or geohazard maps “generally show areas that may be subject to the effects of earthquakes, landslides, debris flows, rock falls, poor soil conditions, radon, or floods.”

The purpose of these maps is “to identify where geologic hazards may be present and where additional evaluations are needed to assess hazards and recommend mitigation measures prior to development.”

Source: http://geology.utah.gov/maps/ geohazmap/index.htm What is Pahinungod?

As the volunteer program of the University of the Philippines, the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod is a decentralized program that “focuses on values education and fosters nationalism and social consciousness among volunteers.” The term “Pahinungod” is of Cebuano origin which is “the closest Filipino translation for the Oblation, the UP symbol,” that “means the offering of oneself in service of the nation.”

Source: https://pahinungod.uplb.edu.ph/index. php/about

Iligan Chronology of Events CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS, from p. 2 Center by Provincial Health Team Leader for Lanao del Norte Dr. Cheryl Balane and Mr. Jasper Ola, to plan what would later be the team’s assessment of Don Juan Actub Lluch Memorial School, Ubaldo D. Laya Memorial Central School, Iligan City East High School and Luinab Elementary School Throughout the day, the group consults with center managers or health officers of these locations and inspects them for management issues, illnesses, nutrition, water and sanitation, psychosocial support and community needs.

Forensics Group At Capin Funeral Homes, the group is not allowed by the owner to do their work, an agreement arranged with the City Health Officer who could no longer be contacted. No cadaver is made available to the group.

By 10:00 am, the group proceeds instead to hold a crash course on managing the dead at the MSU-IIT with 30 health, medical and dental personnel.

From 6:00 to 8:00 pm, the group goes to Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes to conduct a hands-on training with a cadaver.

Medical Group The group renders medical aid to more than 1,400 people and conducts counseling for residents of Barangay Digkilaan. Patients with upper respiratory tract infections and symptoms of gastrointestinal disorders are given medicines. Wounds of those injured are treated.

Surplus medicine and other medical needs are left with local health workers and the Iligan Medical Society.

By 7:00 pm, all groups except the forensics group conduct an assessment of the day’s work. Members report activities and present recommendations. VP de Vera requests the team to submit reports using the outline prepared by Dr. Llanes.

By 9:30 pm, as the medical and public health groups meet with Iligan doctors, VP de Vera and Dr. Llanes share notes and determine their next course of action.

Vera and Dr. Llanes on board an MSU-IIT vehicle.

At 2:00 pm, the geo-hazards group conducts an aerial survey of Iligan with GMA 7 onboard an army chopper.

From 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm, all the other groups converge at the CDO airport for their return flight to Manila. The geo-hazards group follows at around 7:00 pm.

December 29

President Pascual, VP de Vera and the UP Padayon Disaster Response Team representatives make public the team’s activities, observations and recommendations in a press conference held at 1:00 pm at the BOR Room, Quezon Hall, UP Diliman.

The press conference highlights the geo-hazards assessment of heavy rainfall and rampaging floods, comparing the phenomenon to a tsunami carrying mud and debris.

The medical, public health and forensic groups conduct an ocular inspection and documentation of disaster sites near the Mandulog river. They find residents cleaning up belongings and rebuilding homes.

At around 10:30 am, the team passes by Barangay Sta. Filomena and visits the devastated Orchid Homes Subdivision.

At 11:00 am, in a GMA 7 interview of the geo-hazards group, Dr. Lagmay publicly presents the details of his group’s findings. He reveals the Ondoy-like volume of rain, the rampaging and erosive nature of the floods and the vulnerability of the geophysical terrain to these extreme conditions.

Dr. Lagmay explains how houses in communities like Orchid Homes are swept away as the river swelled from 20 to 500 meters. Two MSU-IIT alumni who are also Orchid Homes residents share their experience and corroborate the group’s account.

ABS-CBN also interviews the geo-hazards group before they are accompanied by VP de Vera and Dr. Llanes to city hall for a chopper ride over Iligan.

By 12:00 pm, the medical, public health and forensics groups take their lunch and leave for Cagayan de Oro City. They are soon followed by VP de

December 30

January 4, 2012 The team reports its activities and recommendations to Sen. Koko Pimentel. He announces the holding of a Mindanao Summit on disaster preparedness and invites the team for scientific inputs.

January 5 The team and Senator Pimentel present the team’s recommendations to the media at the Kapihan sa Senado.

January 27 to 29 The medical group returns to Iligan to distribute relief goods, assess the residents’ health and administer vaccinations for children in Barangay Rogongon.

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FORUM January-February 2012

on UP’S RESPONSE TO TYPH VICTIMS IN ILIGAN CITY

THE UP FORUM ROUNDTABLE

Q

How did UP help Typhoon Sendong victims, particularly those in Iligan City?What measures should be taken to ensure that unfortunate incidents like this will not happen again?

Talens: As early as December 15, 2011, the UP Manila (UPM) Ugnayan ng Pahinungod (through its Disaster Preparedness Program) had already been monitoring Typhoon Sendong and anticipating the storm’s consequences.

Our experience during the past typhoons Ondoy and Pedring—where Pahinungod volunteers participated in quick medical and relief missions— showed that resources, preparations and options had to be explored early for a rapid response. Data from UP alumni in the area were vital in this initial fact-finding. When UP System Vice-President for Public Affairs J. Prospero De Vera III requested UPM Chancellor Manuel Agulto to assemble a team of experts for a brainstorming in UP Diliman, UP Manila already had several ideas.

After a brief orientation by UP Manila representatives, the members of the planning team decided that UP as a system would send a quick multidisciplinary response team (i.e., not only medical in nature) to the immediate post-disaster phase. To have the highest impact despite the poor timing of Sendong, the response should be before the end of 2011, which was then only two weeks away.

This team would be called the Padayon Disaster Response Team. Through

"Our experience during the past typhoons Ondoy and Pedring— where Pahinungod volunteers participated in quick medical and relief missions— showed that resources, preparations and options had to be explored early for a rapid response." direct communications with Sen. Koko Pimentel, UP alumni in the disaster area, and reports from the media, Iligan City (which at that time had received relatively less assistance compared to Cagayan de Oro City) was chosen as the focus site.

The UP Manila Health Sciences Center has a lot to offer with regard

to disaster response. Vital medical management expertise for the postdisaster as well as the pre-disaster period was suggested for the Sendong victims. The Padayon Disaster Response Team (composed of medical, community and sanitation, forensic and geo-hazard teams) sent a medical team from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) composed of a trauma surgeon with a diplomate on disaster management, as team leader, two emergency physicians experienced in disasters, two pediatricians from the Child Protection Unit, two psychiatrists well-versed in disaster debriefing, one family physician, one dentist, one emergency medical technologist, one registered nurse who is a veteran of numerous medical missions, and two information officers. The team was supported by UP alumni doctors in the area.

The medical needs of the survivors were gathered from various sources.

Most of the medicine that was distributed were donations from the office of Sen. Koko Pimentel and the Cardinal Santos Medical Center through Dr. Maria Corazon Consunji, a UP alumna. Through PGH Director Jose Gonzales, guarantee letters utilizing the priority development assistance fund (PDAF) of Sen. Franklin Drilon

"UP medical expertise, with its proven reliability and quick mobilization, is vital in any immediate post-disaster response.

However, to mitigate problems in the future, the team believes that there is a need to empower local health workers." and Sen. Sergio Osmeña, as well as that of former Sen. Juan Flavier, resulted in more funds. Airfare for the team and cargo was solicited from Metro Pacific Corporation, Cebu Pacific Airlines and LBC. The UP System offices provided the rest of the airfare and the contingency fund for the team. The UP alumni provided accommodation while Senator Pimentel and Rep. Varf Belmonte of Iligan took care of

FORUM January-February 2012 5

OON SENDONG

Eric S.M. Talens, MD Head, Medical Team UP Padayon Disaster Response to Iligan Director, UP Pahinungod Chief, Division of Trauma Surgery Philippine General Hospital UP Manila

Maria Corazon A. De Ungria, PhD Co-Head, Forensics Team UP Padayon Disaster Response to Iligan Head, DNA Laboratory National Science and Research Institute (NSRI) College of Science UP Diliman

Dr. Alfredo Francisco Mahar A. Lagmay, PhD Head, Geohazards Team UP Padayon Disaster Response to Iligan Associate Professor, National Institute of Geological Sciences College of Science UP Diliman

transportation and food expenses.

In Barangay Digkila-an which is an hour away from the city’s center by military truck, the medical team provided medical services to 1,440 patients during its one-day mission.

Treatment was given to those who had cough, colds, vomiting, diarrhea and leptospirosis (a serious illness common in survivors after a storm, contracted from wading in floods contaminated with rodent urine). The survivors’ wounds were tended to and psychiatrists de-briefed those with posttraumatic stress disorder. The medical team also conducted interviews with barangay health workers and officials to determine the additional needs follow-up missions could address.

UP medical expertise, with its proven reliability and quick mobilization, is vital in any immediate post-disaster response. However, to mitigate problems in the future, the team believes that there is a need to empower local health workers. A second medical mission left last January 27 to deliver not only additional medical assistance in the treatment of diseases now prevalent in the remaining evacuation sites and prophylaxis for anticipated epidemics in the remote barangays, but also to train survivors in health management.

De Ungria: UP is providing immediate and long-term assistance to survivors of Typhoon Sendong.

The immediate response was provided by UP doctors, dentists and psychologists during a one-day medical mission to Barangay Digkilaan.

Medicine was also distributed. To my knowledge, another medical mission

took place at the end of January 2012. The goal of the second medical mission was to distribute antibiotics to those already showing signs of infection and to vaccinate those prone to infection.

UP’s long-term response is to provide technical expertise in forensics (pathologists and DNA analysts), geology and public health to evaluate the on-going response effort provided by both the national government and the government of Iligan City. A report by these experts was submitted to the mayor of Iligan as well as to Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III to determine if the response of the national and local governments was adequate for modern-day calamities such as Sendong.

For example, the forensics team made very clear recommendations on how to recover and preserve bodies for identification. The proper identification of the dead in mass disasters is a very important step towards the rehabilitation of the survivors.

On the social side, the fact that UP as an institution sent its own people to Iligan City as soon as resources were available demonstrated its commitment to help. UP showed the people that being a national university does not

"UP’s long-term response is to provide technical expertise in forensics (pathologists and DNA analysts), geology and public health to evaluate the on-going response effort provided by both the national government and the government of Iligan City. "

only mean academic excellence, but also using this excellence in the service of the people.

Typhoons will always hit the Philippines. About 20 typhoons per year on the average strike the country.

However, the disaster brought about by these typhoons may be mitigated ROUNDTABLE, p. 6

"It is imperative to formulate a disaster response strategy which involves different agencies for a more immediate and effective response. Each agency must know its role and where and how it could obtain resources or financing needed to fulfill their role."

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FORUM January-February 2012 Pampanga and Bulacan, where the more than P1-billion Pampanga River Delta dike, built to protect Sulipan/ Calumpit, contained floodwaters generated by Pedring and Quiel in Hagonoy and Calumpit for weeks.

Lagmay: From December 27 to 29, volunteer scientists and students from the UP National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS) went to Iligan City to assess the damage inflicted by the tropical storm. The NIGS volunteers, who were part of the UP Padayon Disaster Response Team, investigated the impact of the destruction by conducting field work in the disaster-stricken areas and aerial photography along the Mandulog River.

I wrote an article for the Talk of the Town section for the Philippine Daily Inquirer which was published last January 29. Excerpts of it may be found below. (The full article may be retrieved from http://opinion. inquirer.net/21959/learning-fromsendong%E2%80%99s-floods.)

To stop the destruction wrought by nature is a dream for many.

Engineering solutions such as dikes work most of the time, but not all the time. They fail to protect communities especially during extreme events.

I have seen this everywhere in the Philippines: In Cabalantian, where waters breached the Gugu dike and swamped the town on the early morning of Oct. 1, 1995 as Typhoon Mameng ravaged Central Luzon, leaving 100 people dead; i n A l b a y, w h e r e several dikes of Mayon volcano were breached upstream and floodwaters and lahar killed 1,266 people in downstream villages in 2006; d u r i n g Tr o p i c a l Storm Ondoy when dikes built to protect Provident Village in Marikina City failed, killing people; in

The list goes on and on and there can only be one conclusion: There are limits to technology and human foresight when dealing with the lethal impact of natural hazards.

One proposal to address the problem of Iligan is to construct a dam upstream of Mandulog River.

Dams serve to provide irrigation and electricity, be they reservoirs for potable water or flood-control systems. This solution, however, is not feasible for Iligan. Lawrence Cruz, the mayor of Iligan, did not mince words when asked about constructing a dam to hold back floodwaters. His answer was, “No, that is not an option.”

There is good reason for his retort: Apart from displacing upland settlers and overcoming political obstacles, current-dam protocol is geared more toward generating income for the dam operator rather than protecting people from floods. We had problems with the San Roque dam during Typhoon Pepeng. The dam released 5,000 cubic meters per second of water for hours,

"To stop the destruction wrought by nature is a dream for many.

Engineering solutions such as dikes work most of the time, but not all the time.

They fail to protect communities especially during extreme events."

A little girl innocently plays among the scattered debris.

inundating vast areas of Pangasinan.

The protocol in the release of water remained unchanged up to the time of Pedring and Quiel. There seems to be no prospect for change.

I’ve also seen proposals for the installation of numerous smaller dams to be distributed throughout a network of streams in a watershed. Aside from generating electricity, the dams will act as a fl ood-control system.

Building many small dams instead of a single dam 100 meters high is less threatening to populations in lowlying areas and more environmentfriendly. However, their effectiveness as a flood-control system has yet to be tested in a tropical region hit on the average by 20 typhoons annually.

A dilemma facing the mayor of Iligan is whether to allow resettlement of the devastated areas or to declare them uninhabitable zones. This question is extremely tough for a politician because the land has property value, a factor in the decision-making process that can’t be easily dismissed. By allowing resettlement, survivors can also pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and rebuild their homes with the hope for better times. Chances are the community will be vibrant again and will be for some time until the next deluge comes.

By that time, the resettled area would be more developed and the population would have increased.

If the next generation forgets and becomes complacent, which most likely will happen, considering how we communicate hazards, a future disaster would be worse with many more fatalities than Sendong’s.

The other option of classifying devastated areas as permanent danger zones and relocating survivors seems more sensible in the long run.

Relocation sites, however, must be properly assessed for all geohazards and there must be provisions for displaced residents to earn their livelihood.

Disasters result when there is a failure in development planning.

Catastrophes are a natural part of the earth’s system and the only

recourse for communities to endure is to be smart in dealing with hazards. By smart we mean that we need to understand, learn from the past and use the best science and technology to promote resiliency

"The other option of classifying devastated areas as permanent danger zones and relocating survivors seems more sensible in the long run.

Relocation sites, however, must be properly assessed for all geohazards and there must be provisions for displaced residents to earn their livelihood." against disasters. The government must accurately predict the track of storms and their deliverable rain, and produce high-resolution, local scale flood maps individuals can relate to instead of regional scale hazard maps. It is imperative that we settle in places that are identified as least compromised and not in areas that are naturally hazardous. If we insist on living in hazardous places, we must understand the risks and be aware of the consequences.

Typhoon Sendong, the third big one in 2011 was only one among the disasters that recently plagued the Filipino people. For Durian, Ondoy, Pepeng, Juaning, Pedring and Quiel the track of the storm and the heavy rainfall were the common causes of the floods.

The next perfect storm can strike any of the watersheds in the Philippines and bring forth a deluge in the floodplains. It’s a Russian roulette, and many are sitting ducks just waiting for the next deluge.

Do you know in which watershed you live? Are you in a perilous floodplain?

Have you bothered to look at a hazard map and learn about the evacuation plan, if there is any at all?

Awareness is the first step. It is up to you to do the smart thing.

Photo by Arlene Agulto

ROUNDTABLE, from p. 5 or even prevented if appropriate measures are taken.

Three such measures come to mind.

First, logging, mining and other activities that are known to affect the environment will have to be regulated.

It is also necessary to dredge rivers and to maintain sewage systems to prevent a build-up of water that could cause flash floods.

Second, it is necessary to evaluate the appropriateness of locations selected for housing for geohazard risks.

Third, it is imperative to formulate a disaster response strategy which involves different agencies for a more immediate and effective response.

Each agency must know its role and where and how it could obtain resources or financing needed to fulfill their role. Each local government unit must also be trained in disaster response strategies to enable the community to respond properly as soon as a calamity strikes.

FORUM January-February 2012 7 Photo by Fred Dabu

Dr. Ma. Cecilia Lim (right) examines the remains of a victim at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes while training participants listen, December 28, 2011.

Tales the Dead Tell

By Rod P. Fajardo III

S

ometimes only the dead can best explain their own death. But they need forensic experts to interpret for them what they have to say to the living.

For forensic experts, even flesh already falling away can reveal the identity of the dead, the possible causes of death and when the death occurred. Even an old, dry bone yields facts. The sutures and shapes of a skull can determine the age and sex of its owner; trauma marks can supply the details and circumstances surrounding the death of a murder victim; cut patterns are tell-tale clues for matching the dismembered parts of a corpse.“[Forensics] cannot raise the dead, but it can make them speak, accuse and identify the agent of death,” so said noted forensic anthropologist William R. Maples in Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist.

Violent incident, multiple fatalities Maples says the minimum time of total skeletonization of the human body is about nine days.

This means that, from the time of death, there is ample time to subject the body to forensic analysis.

However, forensic analysts don’t always have an uncontaminated body to analyze, or complete skeletal frames and enough time to work on. This is especially true after such violent events as a super typhoon or a massive earthquake, which usually results in wholesale casualties. Limbs get lopped off and strewn everywhere—and mangled, stretched, crushed, burned, and/or gnawed by insects. Some bodies may be buried under the ruins and get mixed up with other elements. And since the Philippines is a tropical country whose warm weather facilitates rapid skeletonization, the bodies may already be in varying stages of decay if and when they are ever found.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun said mass casualty incidents would be best managed if there is a Disaster Mortuary Response Team (DMORT) to professionalize the handling of the dead and prevent the usual practice of scrambling for resources every time disaster strikes. The team would include specialists to examine the bodies, such as pathologists, dentists, anthropologists and radiologists. Additional support may include trainees or volunteers like medical and dental students, military, police and fire personnel. They should be provided with equipment such as transportable body refrigerators, temporary mortuary facilities and portable X-ray machines.

Moreover, they should be given access to additional forensic laboratory support for DNA analysis,

toxicology and other tests.

“The key word in the emergency management of multiple fatality incidents being preparedness,” stressed Fortun, “the Philippine DMORT will be mobilized not only during actual disasters but will actively participate in the preplanning, organization and coordination; and will even conduct mock disaster response exercises.”

This is expected to result in an ideal scenario where a death investigation system is functional and the agency tasked to deal with the day-to-day management of violent deaths takes charge of incidents that result in manifold deaths. Equipment and human resources are available, and, most importantly, a mass disaster plan is in place. Many agencies from the locality are involved and are reinforced by national teams as necessary. Mock disaster scenarios are periodically staged to check if the response plan is adequate.

In the Philippines, however, a system for managing the dead during and after disasters is almost non-existent.

Far from ideal Fortun, a professor at the UP Manila College of Medicine, led the Forensic Science Group of the UP Padayon Disaster Response Team to Iligan City in Mindanao, which was one of the worst-hit areas during the onslaught of Typhoon Sendong in December 2011.

She was joined by another forensic pathologist, Dr. Ma. Cecilia Lim of UP Manila College of Medicine, and UP Diliman Natural Sciences Research InstituteDNA Analysis Laboratory Director Ma. Corazon de Ungria. Also with the group were research associate Gayvelline Calacal and legal researcher Minerva Sagum, both of the UP Diliman Natural Sciences Research Institute-DNA Analysis Laboratory.

The group is not a regular standing unit or committee of the university. But its members have previously worked together or separately in other cases as consultants to government agencies or nongovernment organizations. De Ungria initiated the formation of the group since she was in consultation with the UP Diliman officials with regard to the teams to be deployed to Iligan City. But since pathology takes the lead in a mass disaster mortuary response because the examination of dead bodies falls within this field of expertise, Fortun was designated group leader.

On January 16, 2012, the UP Padayon Disaster

Response Team presented its report to UP President Alfredo E. Pascual. “The situation in the Philippines unfortunately is far from ideal because there is no system that defines in detail which deaths are to be investigated, who will investigate them and how,” said Fortun. As a result, she said that when a violent incident leads to multiple fatalities, chaos usually ensues. While care for the living victims has improved and specific agencies already know how to deal with survivors, people are still at a loss as to what to do with the dead and who should be responsible for them.

Local officials also waste time blaming one another. Local funeral homes end up doing the grisly job of collecting, storing and disposing of the remains.

Fortun said, “This simply does not work and the lack of a proper system leads to misidentification and loss of bodies, stolen property, extortion by funeral parlor personnel and fake death claims and claimants, among many other numerous problems.”

In Cagayan de Oro (CDO), for instance, the bodies had piled up in the city’s funeral homes so that the local government reportedly had to order the transfer of the bodies to a landfill. The decision was met with outrage, accusing Mayor Vicente Emano of disrespecting the dead. He was quoted as saying in newspaper reports that he did not have a choice as people were already complaining about the stench. At least 70 bodies were brought to the landfill.

Lack of coordination Together with the other members of the team, the five-woman forensic group flew to Cagayan de Oro City on December 27, 2011 to inform the local branch of the Department of Health of their presence. The group was immediately informed about the problem of bodies in a cemetery that had not been buried or examined.

“This was contrary to news reports and observations at the CDO Lumbia airport that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) disaster victim identification operations were already in place and functional,” Fortun said. “Notable was the absence of any NBI representative during our meeting with the DOH and the apparent lack of coordination among the health officials and the NBI regarding the dead victims.”

The team then proceeded to Iligan City and joined all the other groups under the UP Padayon Disaster Response Team to meet with local officials and concerned parties including City Health Officer TALES, p. 8

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TALES, from p. 7 (CHO) Dr. Livey Villarin at the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) campus.

Villarin stressed the need for forensic assistance as more bodies were being recovered and the NBI team working in Iligan had left for Manila for the Christmas break. He did not know when the postmortem examinations would resume. The UP forensics group explained that because of the limited time, its focus was not on postmortem examinations for identification purposes but on the training of local human resources. The group members also made it clear that they had no intention of disrupting the NBI identification system that was supposedly in place.

When the NBI-Iligan forensic team headed by Atty. Arnel Dalumpines, together with doctors from the agency, arrived and joined the discussion later on in the meeting, they claimed that except for a few bodies, the postmortem examinations had been completed. Dalumpines also pointed out that based on the national disaster guidelines—as specified in Department of Health Administrative Order 2007018—the NBI is in charge of the casualties in natural disasters such as Typhoon Sendong.

“Apparently, the NBI was not open to allowing other parties to help. They were not willing to share information either, citing the confidentiality of findings, even with the Iligan City Health Officer,” Fortun noted. “They hinted at sending out to foreign laboratories the Typhoon Sendong postmortem (after death) DNA samples for analysis just like in previous cases. As for antemortem (before death) data gathering, they said that they were about to start that soon, having finished the postmortem work. It was not explained how they intended to do this.”

Eventually, however, the NBI acceded to the proposed demo-postmortem examination by the UP forensics group using bodies that had already been examined, on the condition that this was to be “observed” by an NBI representative, citing mislabeling risks as a concern. It was agreed that Fortun’s group would proceed to the Capin Funeral Homes the following day where Villarin would arrange for some bodies to be available for an improvised training class.

One-day training course The UP forensics group took pains to be at the Capin Funeral Homes as early as 9 a.m. the next day only to be told that no examinations of Typhoon Sendong victims were to take place there.

“We were told that no remaining bodies were left and so the planned training class could not be

accommodated,” Fortun said. “So we decided to return to MSU-IIT and just conduct classroom-type lectures.

Our concern anyway was to train the members of the community, the LGU and the city health office on management of the bodies of the victims of the disaster.”

Lim and Fortun thus gave a talk on mass disaster victim identification. The participants consisted of two pathologists, sixteen medical students from the Mindanao State University College of Medicine, three dentists, five provincial health officers from DOH-ARMM, two nurses and two social workers from non-government organizations.

In the “Management of the Dead During Disasters: A Manual for the Philippines” prepared by Fortun for the Department of Health-Health Emergency Management Staff and the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region Office in 2007, Fortun stressed that since the Philippines does not have a DMORT, disaster-stricken communities would have to make do with what is available and get organized using existing resources.

To begin with, they have to consider the nature of the incident to be dealt with as it affects how the dead will be managed. It could be a natural disaster confined to one area (e.g., collapse of a single dwelling from an earthquake or a localized landslide) or there could be several sites involved. The disaster could be “man-made” such as a land, sea or air transport crash and probably accidental, or it could be an act of terrorism.

Then they have to provide an estimate of the number of fatalities, the probable condition of the remains and the location of the incident. Another important factor is the availability of forensic specialists who can take charge of the remains. There is also the problem of funding for the procurement and use of equipment, maintenance of the mortuary facility, compensation for personnel and provisions for their food, lodging and other needs, fees for laboratory tests and transportation expenses.

Then comes search and recovery. “A systematic and organized search and recovery process for the fatalities could spell the difference between a successful disaster management and a failed one,” Fortun said. “Ideally the remains should be retrieved fast because this improves their chances for proper identification and also lessens the distress among the living, particularly the surviving next-of-kin.” To carefully and efficiently execute recovery, the original site layout could give an idea where best to look for the remains and how to approach the scene. There is also a need to map out the area involved and plan how it can be systematically and expeditiously searched.

Since mass casualty incidents usually result in chaotic situations, even for forensic experts, documentation will have to be done with meticulous care. “As much as possible, document the location where remains are

recovered prior to removal using the original site layout as guide if this can still be done,” she said. “A simple scene sketch can be drawn and marked where the remains are found. If resources allow, photography, videotaping and global positioning satellite mapping also help.” Other ways of documenting include tagging of the remains, especially where separated body parts are involved. Prior to removal of the remains, personal property and other evidence from the scene should also be assigned reference numbers.

After the talk, the UP team and some of the participants—seven of the medical students, two dentists and a medical officer from the city health office—were escorted to the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes where they were given access to two specific sets of remains inside body bags. Lim examined the remains, with the findings documented and DNA samples obtained, for the benefit of the participants.

Empowering the community Given the forensic group’s limited time in Iligan City, the only substantially significant service they were able to conduct was the one-day training course.

Nevertheless, they noted that the 30 individuals who participated were a good mix of motivated learners with the potential to help in the management of the dead in future mass casualty incidents.

“Not everyone managed to stay the entire day (and night) but there was genuine interest and enthusiasm in the unpleasant work of examining the dead and the daunting task of identifying them,” Fortun said. Soft copies of the topics discussed, practical references and forms were provided to some of the participants who had data storage devices with them with the commitment that these would be shared with the others. Their contact information was also obtained for future reference.

She also observed that empowering the community in terms of forensic capabilities was quite promising, especially when one considers the fact that Iligan City is progressive with adequate people resources—health professionals in practice, academic institutions, medical and dental societies and active local government units and non-government organizations.

She added that setting up a system of managing the dead in future mass disasters appears to be very feasible.

“We saw notices on the walls of both Capin and Cosmopolitan funeral homes containing information on the missing such as the individual’s name, age, picture, identifying features, who to contact,” she said. “This indicates awareness regarding the need for proper identification of the dead and the process of how to go about it.”

The process of victim identification in disastrerstricken areas, however, is complex because of the large number of casualties, the poor state of preservation of the bodies and general absence of a system in place rendering these initiatives ineffective.

This is made even more complicated by the seeming TALES, p. 12 Photos by Fred Dabu

Pictures of missing Sendong victims in Iligan.

FORUM January-February 2012 9 Photo byFred Dabu

Public Health group leader Dr. Buenalyn Teresita Ramos-Mortel (bottom-right corner) gets updates on the city's health, rescue and relief situations from DOH-CHDNM Health Emergency Management Staff officers.

Community Sterilization and the Cataclysm

By Arbeen Acuña

F

rom all over the archipelago, the University of the Philippines (UP) is among the institutions which took the initiative to help the victims, not just of the wrath of nature, but also of a defunct social system preserved by its engineers, agents and administrators, who shall be held liable for the loss of lives and properties. Unlike hypocritical bureaucrats and profiteers washing their hands clean, branding relief goods with their names and flaunting their perverted version of helping, UP went beyond broadcasted charity.

In its capacity to live up to its mandate to serve the people, the UP Padayon Disaster Response Team responded to the need for human resources and technical knowledge when TS Sendong hit the South.

Its report “provides a starting point for more studies and exchanges on disaster response and related work in various academic disciplines in the university,” as its overall team leader UP Vice-President for Public Affairs J. Prospero De Vera III put it; an inquiry into the roots of societal problems is called for, by starting with the report of the public health group, one of the four groups of UP Padayon—that gives us a glimpse into how our system generally deals with natural disasters and their aftermath.

Disinfection operations “I see the sun, and if I don’t see the sun, I know it’s there. And there’s a whole life in that, in knowing that the sun is there,” writes Dostoevsky in The Brothers Karamazov. Despite Sendong’s wreaking havoc before Christmas, the skies of Northern Mindanao eventually gave way to the sun: with our sense of bayanihan—not the mere lifting of houses, but rebuilding homes. The livelihood of the people may have been in tatters, but they may look forward to a fresh start, while still being critical, so as learning may be extracted. In The Politics of Experience, Laing wrote that the perspective of a man “alienated from his source creation arises from despair and ends in failure,” not having “trodden the path to the end of time,” of space, of darkness and of light, he is not aware that “where it all ends, there it all begins.”

“People shall be taught how to recover, how to make things normal again and how to cope with the situation,” said Dr. Buenalyn Teresita Ramos-Mortel,

head of the public health team. She said that though constituent units and their respective departments have been involved in relief operations, this is the first time that UP as a system took the lead in lending a hand to typhoon-ravaged communities. In its report, the public health team pinpointed the needs of the particular community in Northern Mindanao designated by the Health Emergency Management Staff (HEMS) of the Department of Health (DOH).

Mortel added that coordinators know how to organize things in the area because of the training course called Public Health and Emergency Management in Asia and the Pacific (PHEMAP), which was organized by the DOH-HEMS, in coordination with the UP College of Public Health, prior to the catastrophe.

The public health team reported that during their visit on December 28 last year, there were fifteen evacuation centers and “the six most populated evacuation centers and their respective families,” as of January 24 were: Digkilaan (442), Mandulog (400), Ubaldo Laya (353), Sta. Filomena (333), Luinab (311) and MSU-IIT Gym (241). The team visited four areas that served as evacuation centers of affected barangay residents. The sites recommended by HEMS and their respective barangays were: Don Juan Actub Lluch Memorial School (Pala-o and Hinaplanon), Ubaldo Laya D. Memorial Central School (Ubaldo Laya), Iligan City East High School (Sta. Filomena, San Roque and Upper Hinaplanon) and Luinab Elementary School (Luinab). The existing facilities, Mortel said, were school buildings which were supposedly for children and were intended for use during school hours and not for overnight stays.

Mortel added that besides tasks concerning “rehabilitation and structural integrity,” civil, sanitary and chemical engineers were also tasked to check whether the water had traces of chemical contamination.

“They recommended regular monitoring of the poso negro and other sources of water because the water system was destroyed,” she said. Water availability varied, according to the report: “In Juan Actub Lluch Memorial School, the ratio is one 350mL bottled water per person per day,” while in Sta. Filomena, the locales said that water is so adequate that “some evacuees

use bottled water to wash their hands.” In Luinab, however, bottled water was only given to children.

Besides sustainable source of drinking water, other “expressed needs of the community” that the group mentioned were permanent shelters, jobs, comfort rooms, megaphones, displacement and psychosocial support. “They have psychosocial support for different groups: the victims, the children, the community and the responders,” said Mortel. She added that like the survivors, even the responders needed to cope because they “get burnt out, too and needed debriefing.”

Other than therapy for the traumatized is the primary recommendation of the public health group: “adopt a camp management protocol that emphasizes a clear command post and information center that is coordinated with the Operation Center.”

Among other recommendations cited by the report are as follows: develop a more coordinated relief effort; develop risk communication messages for different publics; provide health promotion activities; develop capacity building programs; conduct a physical and microbiological testing of water supply; provide more water purifiers; monitor the distribution of drinking water; monitor the status of comfort room septic tanks and siphon them frequently; encourage waste segregation; and organize a university disaster response team with competencies on: nutrition; maternal, newborn and child health; communicable diseases; non-communicable diseases including mental health; water sanitation and hygiene; health services; pharmaceuticals; and mass casualty management.

Psychosocial impact G! The report stated that in their visit to Iligan City, the groups found 7,447 individuals in the evacuation centers, of which 999 were five-year olds. Besides chronic illnesses and medical disorders that were already endemic in the area prior to Sendong, the medical group said the problem of “suddenly-orphaned children,” and “ensuring the safety of these children,” required therapy. As Erich Fromm points out in his essay “The Influence of Social Factors in Child Development,” “Mental illness is always a sign that basic human needs are not being satisfied; that there COMMUNITY STERILIZATION p. 12

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MAPPING OUR WAY, from p. 3 with national disaster response officials blaming the indifferent, complacent public who refused to evacuate even when warnings had been issued,4 and the public blaming their incompetent, negligent and shortsighted local government officials for worsening the situation.5 Finger-pointing aside, it is apparent that somewhere in the chain of implementation from national government and its agencies, to the provincial governments, the city governments, the municipalities and barangays and finally the citizens, the concepts of disaster preparedness and risk reduction got lost along the way.

Planning vs doing “All local government units such as cities and municipalities are mandated by law to prepare a land use and development plan,” says Dr. Mario Delos Reyes, college secretary of the UP School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP). LGUs are actually mandated to prepare a variety of plans by various pieces of national legislation, such as those mentioned above. The most recent is RA 10121, which mandates LGUs to establish a Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (a committee for the barangays) and to formulate and implement a comprehensive and integrated Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Plan. The products of all these laws and ordinances are, at least ideally, integrated in the LGU’s Comprehensive Land Use and Development Plan and the Comprehensive Development Plan. Also included in these plans (again, ideally) are the geohazard maps produced by national agencies such as the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

(Provincial geohazard maps are actually available for download at the website of the Department of Interior and Local Government [DILG], http://www.dilg.gov. ph/ReportsResourcesArchive.php.)

“Most cities have land use and zoning ordinances,” says Delos Reyes. “According to the DILG, only two or three municipalities don’t have a land-use and development plan. These plans cover disaster risk reduction, but this is perhaps not seriously considered.

[Some may not] have geohazard maps. Some might include the geohazard maps, but [the information in these maps] might not be fully integrated or mainstreamed into the land-use and development plan of the city. And some may have integrated or mainstreamed [this information] but these are not

being implemented.”

The land-use and development plans serve to guide the LGUs in taking concrete steps to reduce their citizens’ risk or exposure to natural hazards, while zoning ordinances would give structure to development, especially for cities, by designating areas for specific purposes. Any sensible land-use and development plan, for example, would prohibit the construction of houses in hazardous areas such as floodplains, right beside rivers, or underneath bridges.

Essentially, national laws must be translated at the provincial, city, municipal and barangay levels into ordinances, and these ordinances must be strictly followed. But things are not as simple. A subdivision or community located beside a river, for example, would need to be relocated in accordance with zooming ordinances to keep it safe from flooding. But any mayor attempting such would run headlong into a wall of protests and claims of human rights violations, or intense lobbying from wealthy landowners and their politicians. “You need a designated space for in-city relocation, and of course you need a budget to build houses with. Even low-cost houses will run to the billions. There are a lot of other factors to consider.

‘We have land-use plans but we’re not implementing them.’ It’s not that simple,” says Delos Reyes.

Barangay power While it is important to have laws and agencies in place at the national level, when it comes to disaster risk reduction management, it is the local governments— the provinces, the cities, the municipalities and the barangays—who have the most crucial role to play.

“They are the frontliners [in the event of a disaster].

They are the ones who can directly impact the problem because they are right there in the situation,” says Dr. Remigio Ocenar, director of the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance’s Center for Local and Regional Governance. A few provinces and local governments do stand out as prime examples of good disaster risk reduction management, Albay under Gov. Joey Salceda being the most prominent.

Nevertheless, “most of us think that it is the national government’s job to respond to disasters. When people are interviewed on TV for example, they always say, it’s national government’s [responsibility], it’s P-Noy’s [responsibility]. They don’t talk about the governor or the mayor or the barangay captain. Why? Because this is the way we are oriented. But the national

government is far away. It should be the barangay to respond first, which is why we need barangays with technical knowledge about disasters.”

However, according to Ocenar, while provinces and highly-urbanized, highly-developed cities have Environmental Offices, on the level of municipalities and barangays, environmental offices become something of a luxury. “Some municipalities can’t afford to maintain an environmental office, and neither can some cities. It seems as if environmental offices on the local, city and municipal levels are optional, not mandatory, unlike public health and social welfare.” At the level of the barangays, the absence of an environmental and disaster-risk-reduction consciousness is even more telling. “First of all, they don’t have the money, even barangays here in Metro Manila,” says Ocenar. “Their capabilities extend only to the delivery of basic services and tax-collecting so they have funds for their programs, such as health, social welfare and so on. But in terms of environment [and disaster response]? Nothing.”

The lay of the land From the aerial views of Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City before Sendong, with the pictures of entire villages located where they should not have been, it is easy to see where exactly urban development had gone wrong. Hindsight is 20/20, after all. But according to Lagmay, foresight can also be just as clear—and amazingly empowering for barangays and individuals alike. All that it would take is a shift in consciousness and a little help from another visual tool: the barangaylevel geohazard map.

Geohazard flood maps, such as the simulated flood maps available for free at www.nababaha.com, indicate areas in the entire Philippines that have a high flood hazard (floods can reach a possible height of over 1.5 meters), a moderate flood hazard (0.5-1.5 meters) and a low flood hazard (0.1-0.5 meters). Such maps are based on the topography of the land and land use features, with data processed using a floodrouting application software such as Flo2d, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-approved flood routing application software, and thus serve to identify the country’s many watersheds.

“Every place in the country has its own watershed, which is an area that collects rain water and makes it run into the creeks,” says Lagmay, who likens a watershed to the branches of a tree connecting to MAPPING OUR WAY, p. 11

Figure 1: Framework for Mainstreaming Vulnerability Assessment in Provincial Development Plans

Cabrido et al., 2011 From Cabrido, Jr., CA 2011. Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plan. NEDA, UNDP, AUSAID Progress Report.

FORUM January-February 2012 11 “The first step [in reading this map] is to know you’re in a hazard area,” says Lagmay. “Once you know that, you, the individual can do something.

You can ask your barangay captain, ‘What is our evacuation plan? Where do we go? Where is our relocation site? Why aren’t we conducting safety drills?’ [This way], this knowledge [of disaster preparedness] will become part of our system and culture.”

If you find that you are in a high-risk area and relocation is not feasible, there are other things a barangay can do. “Evacuation sites are places of safety, but not all evacuation sites are reached laterally. We also have vertical evacuation sites,” he says, citing the example of a 3-storey house in Iligan whose top floor had sheltered a hundred people while all around it, smaller houses were being demolished in the flood. “You can suggest to your barangay captain to build a barangay hall that can act as an evacuation site. You can design it to withstand the known height and the impact pressure of a flood.”

Assessing vulnerability Dr. Mario Delos Reyes, UP School of Urban and Regional Planning

MAPPING OUR WAY, from p. 10 the trunk. Rain falling upon the mountains flow into creeks, and the creeks give this “tribute” of rainwater to bigger creeks, which in turn would connect to streams, then to rivers and ultimately to the main river.

“There are many watersheds all over the Philippines; [they number] by the thousands. And any water shed can experience a flash flood, so practically anybody living in the Philippines can experience a flood.”

According to Lagmay, the DoST now has invested P1.6 billion in a project that aims to generate highresolution topographic maps all over the Philippines— maps that are far more detailed than even Googlemaps, with its resolution of 1 meter or less. “We’re talking about 25 cm resolution, with elevation. From that kind of topographic map, you can do simulations of different kinds of rainfall events.” This, he adds, is one way of harnessing science and technology to help save and improve lives and prevent disaster. The maps will be generated using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology, and will be disseminated to as many people as possible—individual citizens and local government units both—through the Internet.

Citizens can even demand to see their barangay or city geohazard map from their local government officials. Unlike the regional-level geohazard maps currently available, the barangay-level geohazard map will show people colorful, highly-detailed and user-friendly images, reminiscent of Googlemaps, of their communities down to the individual rooftops of their homes, their proximity to bodies of water, and the elevation of the terrain in various places that would indicate hazardous and safe areas.

Maps also feature in the Vulnerability Assessment Tool, a newly developed instrument of the UP-SURP to aid provincial LGUs in mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in their land-use and development plans. According to Delos Reyes, the tool is relatively simple but detailed and comprehensive, and generates not just single geohazard maps but multiple hazard maps. Following the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change definition of vulnerability as sensitivity plus exposure plus adaptive capacity, 6 the Vulnerability Assessment Tool gathers data from geohazard maps and other resources from the MGB, Phivolcs and Pagasa. By integrating such a vulnerability assessment into its development plan, a province could take into consideration things such as future projections of hydro-meteorological conditions; situation analysis for future scenarios and future issues and challenges; land use and resource development and management plans including locations where development must be constrained and locations for more potential development; priority development and management programs; and priority investments.

“You will not be able to separate climate change adaptation from disaster risk reduction. Disaster risk reduction is short-term; climate change adaptation is long-term,” says Delos Reyes. He adds that UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Research and Development Benito Pacheco has mentioned the Office of Civil Defense’s and other LGU's interest in the tool. Eventually, the SURP intends to transmit the Vulnerability Assessment Tool down to the municipality and barangay level.

For his part, Delos Reyes stresses the need for local government officials to rethink their current Photo by Arlene Agulto

Dr. Mahar Lagmay of the UP National Institute of Geological Sciences (seated) shows UP Padayon volunteers and people from the media aerial photographs of the disaster at the press conference held at the BOR Room on Dec. 30.

Dr. Remigio Ocenar, UP National College of Public Administration and Governance

land-use and development plans, particularly in light of the need for disaster preparedness and issues such as urban sprawl and rampant over-development.

As a hypothetical mayor of a hypothetical city, for example, the first thing he would do is “to do a vulnerability assessment such as what SURP is doing. Then, as a planner, I would integrate climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in our comprehensive land-use and development plan. Then I would create an action plan. Of course, I would have to pay attention to our Local Development Investment Program to generate funds for our programs and projects. And this action plan and program must be consultative. [The people must be consulted] through a technical working group, so they will know what the plans and programs are of this administration.”

Strong institutions, good governance, strong leadership But most critical of all—more important than maps and development plans—is political will. Ocenar illustrates the three pillars needed to effect such changes: “strong institutions, good governance and strong leadership. If you have strong institutions, good governance and a strong leadership oriented toward responding proactively [to the need for disaster risk reduction] and with a clear environmental direction, then the interventions and platform this strong administration would create would provide a catalyst not only to the local government but to the entire community, including the private sector. Because as things stand now, nobody, not even the private sector, knows how to respond [to disaster].”

Ocenar also emphasizes the need to disseminate the local government’s intervention platform to all levels—something that Albay has been doing. “If it is a provincial government, it should reach all component cities, all municipalities, all barangays and finally all the citizens. Everyone must know what they should do to prepare for disaster; all the plans and policies must be clear.”

A strong leader must ensure that his constituents are capacitated to handle disaster scenarios. A strong leader must also be willing to look to the longterm well-being of one’s constituents by strictly implementing the laws and ordinances. “That’s why strong leadership and good governance is critical, and when you talk about good governance, you also talk about transparency and accountability. You as the leader are responsible for whatever happens in your locality. After all, the people voted for you.

If you fail to do what you should have done and a disaster happens, you are accountable for that.”

The idea of disasters as human creations can be deeply empowering, because while we can do nothing about typhoons, earthquakes and other MAPPING OUR WAY, p. 13

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COMMUNITY STERILIZATION, from p. 9 is a lack of love, a lack of reason for being, a lack of justice.” Had there been a health infrastructure strong enough to protect them, and education that prepares them for such a situation, the children wouldn’t have had to suffer mentally and physically.

As Rural Missionaries of the PhilippinesNorthern Mindanao Sub-Region’s (RMP-NMR) call goes, “Climate Justice Now! Change, not Charity!”

Other than the medical, the need for psychosocial help was a manifestation of injustice. Evidences of neglect left indelible marks on the lives of the affected communities, and perhaps, even the generations that follow. As Laing wrote, “Only experience is evident.

Experience is the only evidence. Psychology is the logos of experience. Psychology is the structure of the evidence.”

The ruin brought about by Sendong has never been experienced by Iligan , so they were not prepared, according to Mortel. She added that some people who train for disasters cannot help other people because they themselves are victims. Mortel said that among the things the psychosocial group noted was the need to clean the area to relieve the people of the memories of the disaster. Dr. Anselmo Tronco and Dr. Carlo Paolo Castro prepared the psychosocial group report dated December 28, 2011. Tronco observed that “reminders of disaster such as fallen trees, debris, mangled cars, have not been sufficiently cleaned up.” Castro noted that the people’s “perceived needs” are “still basic needs like food, clothes, underwear, detergent soap, toothpaste, and utensils for their homes” and that, at least in Digkilaan, the people “feel frustrated that local government in the delivery of relief goods has not been felt in their community” thus making them “very appreciative of the response from outside of their community.”

“I noticed that the people have their own way of coping,” said Mortel. People made use of “markers,” probably approximating that their family members

died. Preparing a few hand-picked flowers and crumbs of bread for their departed loved ones served as their outlet, their expression of grief. . “These (rituals) are actually for the living.” Categorized as defence mechanisms, “psychoanalysis describes a number of ways in which a person becomes alienated from himself,” wrote Laing. Citing “repression, denial, splitting, projection, introjections” as examples, he added that these mechanisms are “often described in psychoanalytic terms as themselves ‘unconscious,’ that is, the person himself appears to be unaware that he is doing this to himself.”

One of the problems Tronco and Castro identified was the absence of “long-term mechanism for the management of the psychological and psychiatric sequelae of the disaster. ” Among the strengths they noted were: organization and partial implementation of a psychosocial-spiritual program by the local planners together with volunteers; and planning of a psychosocial program for caregivers. The report also noted that there is a “direct link with the regional head of the psychosocial programme for Region X (Dr. Benson Go, a UP-PGH alumnus) for Sendong.” The report stated that, in Digkilaan, farmers were already forward looking, planning the rehabilitation of their homes/community with an appreciation that outside help is needed, but they have to be the ones to mobilize themselves and people have enough to eat and food has not been a problem for the last 11 days.

Tronco and Castro listed their recommendations:(1) Sustain the relationship between UP System and local disaster response teams (evacuation center managers, and eventually resettlement teams).( 2) Identify training needs for teachers and local health workers, usually the first responders in disasters, and take care of survivors. (3) Prepare a schedule for relief efforts and a clear plan on rehabilitation participated in by the community, the local government unit, and other stakeholders to allay anxiety, fear and sense of loss among other members of the community.( 4) Give

Forensic science development

Photo by Fred Dabu

To prepare the country for future disasters, the group recommended that there be a system for properly handling the dead, including careful retrieval operations, orderly tagging and examination of the remains with adequate documentation of identifying features, tissue sampling and temporary burial of those still unidentified. This requires gathering detailed antemortem and postmortem information at the soonest time possible. The information must be carefully organized, integrated and analyzed.

Since time is an essential element here, the

national government, especially the NBI, should be open to working with the local health officials who are already on site and are therefore in the best position to carry out the gathering of information.

While UP currently has no responsibilities in the management of the dead during mass casualty incidents, it can offer the expertise of its personnel.

Fortun noted that there are various units in the university with expertise in forensic pathology, dentistry, anthropology and DNA analysis which are needed in the identification of the dead and the missing. UP’s thrust as an educational institution may be the basis for providing training courses in mass disaster management and the promotion of forensic science development in the country.

Fortun, Lim, de Ungria, and many other faculty members have long been volunteering their forensic Dr. Raquel Fortun is interviewed by members of the press after giving a talk on mass disaster victim identification to a group of volunteers from MSU, DOH-ARMM and expertise whenever there NGOs, Dec. 28, 2011. are incidents that call for it. But to their recollection the UP Padayon Disaster by, UP has embarked on a new tradition of serving Response Team was the first time UP, as an institution, the nation when it actually matters and where it is became involved in forensic work to help identify most needed. the dead. And if their experience, observations and -----------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph recommendations in Iligan City were anything to go

TALES, from p. 8 lack of coordination among the local government agencies.

In Iligan City, for example, the group observed that while the NBI worked in the bigger Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes, the Philippine National Police (PNP) also sent its own Disaster Victim Identification Team to the smaller Capin Funeral Homes. Neither agency seemed to have seen the need for a common temporary mortuary facility with refrigeration storage. The NBI and PNP also used different body tagging systems without making it clear if they would coordinate their postmortem examinations with one another; if information would be shared between them in the future; or if one or other would be the lead agency in the identification process.

As a result, access to correct information was rendered problematic for Fortun and her group members. It was difficult, for instance, to determine the number and demographics of the dead bodies already recovered and those that were still missing. “It is not clear if there is a systematic search for bodies being conducted together with an accounting of the residents in the affected areas in order to come up with accurate figures,” she said. “It appears that only surface remains and bodies washed ashore were being recovered. It is likely that bodies are hidden under the scattered debris and mud.”

time for grieving and healing.

General prescription Though the situation in Iligan was as bad as having a 1:50 to 1:100 toilet-person ratio (the ideal is 1:20 according to the public health group ), grave conditions already existed even before the deluge.

The Aquino government did not stop at slashing the budget for basic social services which include health and education; it also vetoed the disaster preparedness calamity fund in 2011. Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino said that Aquino and his cabinet should be held accountable for “criminal neglect.”

Though UP Padayon has expressed its long-term commitment “to finish what it started” and help came nationwide, the victims of Sendong are not mere victims of Mother Nature.

These “expressed needs of the community” are indeed basic needs—decent homes, employment, food, communication and education. Dr. Giovanni Tapang of the Advocates of Science and Technology for the People (AGHAM) includes in his Top 7 Ways to Reduce Disaster Risk the reduction of poverty as one of the most important determinants of vulnerability to disasters. Other suggestions from Tapang include the improvement of our disaster response plans, having proactive warning systems, cancellation of the operations of corporate logging firms and mining companies, stopping the liberalization of mining, a moratorium on the construction of coal-powered plants and the institution of a nationwide emergency response system. “We can emulate Cuba in its storm preparations,” said Tapang.

In Weathering the Storm, Oxfam America said that the United Nations Development Program and the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies have repeatedly (cited) Cuba as an example for other countries to emulate in risk reduction despite its being “a small and poor country whose geographical location gives it a high COMMUNITY STERILIZATION p. 13

FORUM January-February 2012 13

Dr. Buenalyn Teresita Ramos-Mortel

COMMUNITY STERILIZATION, from p. 12 and recurrent risk of hurricanes.”

The report noted qualities that emerge as significant and proven risk reduction measures:: (1) Universal access to services; (2) Policies to reduce social and economic disparities; (3) Considerable investment in human development; (4) Government UP EXTENDS, from p. 16 Counseling and referrals The group attended to several patients with posttraumatic stress disorders. Many survivors told the medical personnel how they lost loved ones and all their valuables. At least one resident was noticed walking around aimlessly in a state of shock.

“We were moved to tears after hearing a child’s tragic experience during the flood,” Talens recalled. The child recounted how he escaped the rampaging waters by climbing up a tree with his parents and siblings.

Unfortunately, as Talens reported, “Only he and a brother (out of their family of nine) survived after the tree broke and tsunami-like waves swept them away.”

“Volunteer psychiatrists conducted individual and group counseling for the residents,” Talens said. The group reported to local authorities the residents’ assessed needs, especially those of the suddenly-orphaned children’s, for proper management.

According to the doctors, the residents expressed their need for water and food supply, shelter, and livelihood. “Both adults and children who lost their loved ones during the calamity need to be safe again with their nearest-of-kin or social welfare institutions that can help them,” Talens said.

After the medical mission, the responders turned over their surplus medical supply to local health workers and doctors of the Iligan Medical Society.

Recommendations The medical group recommended that all concerned agencies should focus on the following: safe and urgent relocation of evacuees to their own homes, readiness for immediate disaster response, empowerment of the locals, sufficient food and shelter management for evacuation areas, quick government aid and clean-up of disaster debris, and provisions for long-term assistance.

The group maintained that evacuation sites should only be temporary. “Evacuees should be returned or relocated sooner to safer homes or settlements since evacuation sites expose them to infectious diseases, depression and possibly violence,” Talens said. “Disaster

investment in infrastracutres; and (5) Social and economic organization. Cuba’s 95.9% literacy rate that Oxfam noted in 2004 and the 0% child malnutrition that the United Nations Fund for Children confirmed in 2010 are important factors in risk reduction measures.

In an interview with the UP Forum, Cuban Ambassador to the Philippines H.E. Juan Carlos Arencibia Corrales said that whenever there is a hurricane, they deal with it as if they were on a war footing. “Our comprehensive system works like a clock—a military clock, taking the preventive measures to protect human life. If we have one casualty, it is a loss for us.”

We also have a local model when it comes to disaster management. “The people (of Bicol) have the consciousness, so they would not need to be pushed (to evacuate),” said Mortel, in reference to the routine of Bicolanos during disasters. The public health group reported that it is noteworthy to point out the extensive experience on disaster preparedness of the Albay medical group. “They are familiar with disasters, which is why they established a warning system in Bicol,” said Mortel. They know when to evacuate and which household goes to what evacuation center. She added that they were so organized that they have assessed the situation, established methods wherein they are seemingly on “autopilot” upon hearing warning signals.

Another model Mortel cited was Japan, which documented the turn of events during the Kobe earthquake. She said that there is a museum dedicated to the victims of the earthquake, with video documentation of the personal experiences of the victims and simulation of how people went through the earthquake, complete with furniture that let visitors feel different intensities as indicated in the Richter scale. “There is a combination of technical information and human interest.” She said that Japan also provided evacuation centers

and relief operations; strengthened the structure of their buildings as a result of their assessment; launched intensive education campaign; and quickly rehabilitated because “the people are willing to help.”

Mortel said that we need to help people understand what the risks are and what to prepare to develop risk communication; and to launch education campaigns. People should also be aware of related health conditions like leptospirosis, measles and chickenpox that arise from the situation. Hygiene, water supply and toilet facility shall also be monitored.

According to Mortel, the medical team indicated that while there were already existing illnesses, among those that could be acquired in the evacuation camp are diarrhea, influenza, and chickenpox. The group remedied the situation through vaccination, although ideally, “it should have been done before, during the schedule of the children.”

The data provided by UP Padayon, Oxfam America, AGHAM and other concerned groups only show that we (except the Albay team which we may also opt to emulate) still have a long way to go in responding to disasters. With thirteen out of eighteen river basins having no flood warning system, as ABS-CBN reported, and the government spending P1.25 per capita for health and P6.55 for our education daily, as reported by Bulatlat , we would need “a serious overhaul of our climate change and other environmental laws that have not qualitatively done anything for the improvement of our communities’ climate resiliency,” said Meggie Nolasco of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (KPNE) in a press statement.

Illnesses and deficiencies, whether medical, psychological or social, have root causes we have to engage and eventually eradicate, if we want allencompassing societal sanitization.

-----------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph

response should be quick and post-disaster medical aid should be made available immediately, as soon as it is safe for the responders.”

He recommended preparing a ready stock of supplies, pool of trained volunteers, transportation and facilitated bureaucracy. UP can also prepare a standby fund for calamities and strengthen its volunteer arm, the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod.

“There’s a need to improve cooperation among government agencies and NGOs for disaster preparedness,” Talens said. His team further stressed the need to empower or train the people in the calamity area to address any difficulty.

The medical group report identified vital components to be integrated into the UP Padayon Disaster Response Team, such as home economics experts who can provide food preparation, shelter management and livelihood training for the disaster survivors.

“The government must respond to meet all the people’s needs, such as water, food, safety and shelter,” Talens said. He said the reminders of the disaster have to be erased from memory to give survivors a sense of normalcy and to help them move on.

MAPPING OUR WAY, from p. 11 natural events, we can certainly do something about us. We can choose to be aware rather than complacent; to utilize the tools, the maps, the knowledge and the legislation available to us; to support the scientific and technological research that would make us better informed; to vote into power leaders with competence and vision; and to make sure that these leaders adhere to the highest standard of governance and service. After all, our lives depend on this.

In the end, “it must come from the individual,” says Lagmay. “We all must do what we can to help. It’s not just national government, not just the scientists, not just the local government—we need every hand and mind that can contribute.”

-----------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph

Continuing medical care The medical group composed mostly of Pahinungod volunteers flew back this January to Iligan to distribute relief goods and give medical aid. Food science and community nutrition experts from UP Diliman joined the group.

Talens said that they travelled 32 kilometers of rough and steep mountain terrain to reach another underserved community, Barangay Rogongon, with the help of soldiers from the 51st Infantry Division.

"We administered vaccines (MMR, Pneumococcal, Tetanus Toxoid and serum) mostly to children and distributed vitamins and relief goods to the residents,” Talens said. The group also assessed the situation of five evacuation sites. His team will return to Iligan in March to give follow-up health care.

-----------Email the author at forum@up.edu.ph.

NOTES:

1 Chapter 1: Development at Risk, United Nations Development Programme, p18, http://www.undp.org/ cpr/disred/documents/publications/rdr/english/c1/e.pdf.

Accessed Feb.15, 2012.

2 Emmanuel M. de Guzman, “Towards Total Disaster Risk Management Approach”, Network for Information, Response and Preparedness Activities on Disaster (NIRAPAD), http:// nirapad.org/admin/soft_archive/1308222759_Towards%20T otal%20Disaster%20Risk%20Manangement%20Approach. pdf. Accessed Feb.15, 2012.

3 John Otis, “Be Prepared”, Development Asia: A publication of the Asian Development Bank, January-March 2011, http:// www.scribd.com/doc/50758733/Dealing-with-DisastersAsia-Faces-the-Daunting-Task-of-Protecting-EconomicGains-from-Recurring-and-Worsening-Disasters. Accessed Feb.15, 2012.

4 Abigail Kwok, Dec. 17, 2011, “Official blames public’s ‘attitude, indifference’ for Cagayan de Oro, Iligan disaster,” InterAksyon: News 5, http://www.interaksyon.com/ article/19880/official-blames-publics-attitude-indifferencefor-cagayan-de-oro-iligan-disasters. Accessed Feb.15, 2012.

5 Antonio Montalvan II, Jarn. 23, 2012, “Cagayan de Oro spring,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, http://opinion.inquirer. net/21609/cagayan-de-oro-spring. Accessed Feb.15, 2012.

6 Glossary of climate change acronyms, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, http://unfccc. int/essential_background/glossary/items/3666.php#V. Accessed Feb.15, 2012.

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FORUM January-February 2012

Defining UP’s Par tnership and Commitment Photo by Arlene Agulto

December 30, 2011 UP President Alfredo Pascual reports in a press conference last December 30 the UP Padayon Disaster Response Team’s activities in calamity-struck Iligan City.

“The UP Charter of 2008 (RA 9500) mandates us to provide various forms of community, public, and volunteer service, as well as technical assistance to the government, the private sector, and civil society,” Pascual said.

He formed the Padayon team (originally called “Task Force Sendong”) last December 18 and asked UP Vice-President for Public Affairs J. Prospero De Vera III to mobilize the concerned UP units.

Pascual said, “UP has the expertise to provide strategic, focused, and high impact immediate assistance in times of disasters. UP has capability to provide long-term technical assistance through its scientific and policy research. UP has the network of alumni, students and other universities, as well as linkages with national and local governments to undertake strategic intervention.”

Photo by Joseph Bautista (IPPAO, UP Manila)

January 5, 2012 Dr. Raquel Fortun, forensics group leader (extreme left); VicePresident J. Prospero De Vera III (second from left); Dr. Eric Talens, medical (not in picture); Prof. Buenalyn Ramos-Mortel, public health (extreme right); and Dr. Mahar Lagmay, geohazards (not in photo), share their observations and recommendations with Sen. Koko Pimentel (third from left) and the media in the January 5 Kapihan sa Senado.

Since December 19, the UP Padayon Disaster Response Team has partnered with Pimentel who is also a UP alumnus to assist Iligan City which, at that time, got less help and media attention compared to Cagayan de Oro City.

Photo by by Joseph Vidal of the Senate Public of the Philippines Public Relations and Information Bureau, http://www.senate.gov.ph/photo_release/2012/0220_02.asp

February 18-19, 2012 As a result of the partnership with UP, Sen. Koko Pimentel and fellow Mindanaoan Sen. TG Guingona organized the 1st Mindanao Summit on Disaster Risk Reduction and Geo-Hazard Awareness in Cagayan de Oro. The summit was attended by policy-makers, local executives, community leaders and experts on disaster risk reduction and mitigation. Also in the picture is Sen. Loren Legarda.

Pimentel and Legarda are alumni of UP.

Photo by Arlene Agulto

December 27, 2011 Dr. Sukarno Tanggol, chancellor of the Mindanao State UniversityIligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), shares a light moment with Vice-President J. Prospero De Vera III. MSU-IIT served as the team’s command post. Padayon meetings were held at the MSU-IIT Board Room.

Tanggol is a UP alumnus.

FORUM January-February 2012 15 Photo by Dr. Ferdinand Llanes

December 27, 2011 NGO personnel accompany Vice-President J. Prospero De Vera III, Dr. Ferdinand Llanes and Councilor Frederick Siao during their ocular inspection of affected communities. They coordinated Padayon’s activities with City Mayor Lawrence Cruz. Local NGOs like the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID) and Ecosystems Work for Essential Benefits (ECOWEB) take on crucial roles in the relief and rehabilitation of ravaged barangays.

Photo by Arlene Agulto

December 27, 2011 Iligan City Health Officer Dr. Livey Villarin presents the city’s health situation to Padayon team members. Members of the Department of HealthCouncil for Health Development Northern Mindanao (DOH-CHDNM) Health Emergency Management Staff also assisted the team.

Photo by Arlene Agulto

December 28, 2011 Soldiers from the Army’s 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade help in disaster rescue and relief operations. They transported the medical group to Barangay Digkilaan, an underserved community in Iligan City.

Photo by Arlene Agulto

December 28, 2011 Team members, together with Councilor Frederick Siao (center), report their activities and area assessments at the MSU-IIT Board Room.

Photo by Arlene Agulto

December 28. 2011 At Barangay Digkilaan, alumni of the UP College of Medicine and the Philippine General Hospital now based in Iligan City listen to Dr. Eric Talens’ pre-consultation briefing. UP alumni volunteered their expertise and resources to help in post-Sendong relief and rehabilitation efforts.

16

FORUM January-February 2012

Photo by Arlene Agulto

UP Extends Medical Aid to Sendong Survivors

By Fred Dabu

S

oon after the floodwaters in northern Mindanao had subsided and local authorities gained full control of post-disaster relief and rehabilitation operations, UP’s medical personnel, as part of the UP Padayon Disaster Response Team formed during the Christmas break, flew in from Metro Manila to Iligan City to help the survivors of Typhoon Sendong.

UP community doctors and volunteers based in the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) moved quickly to provide medical aid to about 1,440 residents of an underserved barangay (village) in Iligan. The group brought in at least P400,000 worth of medicine and treated residents’ wounds and ailments including post-traumatic stress disorders during the day-long medical mission last December 28.

The stories of their suffering survivors, especially by the suddenly-orphaned children, were so heartbreaking that, at some point, the doctors could not hold back their tears.

Mission-ready Dr. Eric Talens, director of the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod Manila and chief of the PGH Division of Trauma Surgery, headed the medical group initially composed of Pahinungod volunteers and Iligan City-based UP alumni who assisted in the relief mission. Included in the group were emergency physicians, family doctors, pediatricians, psychiatrists, a nurse and an emergency medical technician.

“The team originally planned to help evacuees in the highly populated, relatively remote, inaccessible and underserved Barangay Mandulog. However, there was a sudden change of destination on the day of the medical mission,” Talens said. The group, joined by army personnel helping in relief operations in calamity zones, proceeded to a similarly deprived barangay.

A doctor from UP Manila checks on a survivor of Sendong, Dec. 28, 2011.

Comprehensive health care

The medical responders arrived in Barangay Digkilaan, Iligan City after an hour’s travel aboard an army truck.

According to Talens, Digkilaan has a population of about 5,000 (1,500 of whom were “evacuees”) and initially listed 27 dead and 28 missing after the deluge. The community served as the distribution area for relief goods and other aid. He reported that it was not an evacuation center since no evacuees had set up shelters there.

“The religious organization Operation Blessings assisted the group in setting up consultation tables and in translating for the doctors and their patients,” Talens said. The UP doctors treated residents for upper respiratory tract infections and gastro-intestinal disorders, wounds and other injuries caused by the calamity. They gave medicines, prophylaxis for Tetanus infection, prophylactic oral antibiotics for Leptospirosis, sterile dressings, and betadine antiseptic solutions to those who needed them.

The doctors also noted several cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, malnutrition in children, and a case of leptospirosis. The patients were referred to local health officers for follow-up treatment.

UP EXTENDS, p. 13

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