Text and photos by MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL
TYPHOON Yolanda is remembered for its horrific destruction and high casualty count, but little is known about the efforts of some trained local officials that made a huge difference in the lives of villagers in the central Philippines.
“We were able to evacuate people from coastal areas to our schools. It was difficult. We were not fully capacitated but somehow, through the trainings, we were able to manage,” said Alberto Mayordomo, barangay captain of Islas de Gigantes, an isolated town in Western Visayas.
“The day before Yolanda hit, I told barangay officials to focus on houses located in coastal areas,” he said.
Hours before the howler made landfall, he ordered his chief tanod to survey the area for people who haven’t left their homes, he added. Turns out, there was one person with orthopedic disability who wasn’t able to evacuate due to difficulty.
After the incident, Mayordomo felt that Islas de Gigantes has made improvements in addressing disaster risks, particularly in identifying and segregating data on the most vulnerable sectors, he said, sharing how SURGE has helped them prepare for Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) in 2013.
The European-led consortium, Scaling Up Resilience in Governance, has for the past 10 years worked on increasing the resilience of high-risk communities in the Philippines, including towns in Western and Eastern Visayas.
SURGE is composed of Handicap International, Christian Aid, Oxfam and Plan International, and is supported by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO).
“Before SURGE came, the barangays in Islas de Gigantes haven’t had the opportunity to talk. They were not only isolated from the mainland, but also from each other,” Mayordomo explained.
“The opportunity to talk with each other, to share experiences, to validate each other’s work in terms of (disaster) preparedness allowed (us) to somehow unite and realize that (we) have a power to voice out our own needs and rights,” he added.
Mayordomo acknowledges the “big challenge” they face as a coastal community. When typhoon Ruby (international name: Hagupit) was forecast to hit their town in December 2014, the town was ready, learning from Yolanda’s lessons.
A legacy of disaster resilience is what organizations like Handicap International want the government to continue , especially after the handover of an inclusive disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategy which ensures the integration of the most vulnerable sectors during disasters, including senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
(SURGE) handed over earlier this month the responsibility of maintaining its DRR legacy to the Philippine government through the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC).
The transfer included the ownership of its community-based DRR framework, manuals, research materials and its website drrknowledge.net in a formal handover ceremony in Pasay City last Dec 9.
The SURGE materials are being considered for inclusion in the Lahat Handa, the government’s own community-based disability-inclusive DRR manual, according to Director Romeo Fajardo of the NDRRMC.
Set for release in January, the Lahat Handa will be a supplementary module to the Office of Civil Defense’s Basic Instructor’s Guide, the main training module observed by first responders in the country.
The working document contains guidelines on inclusive early warning systems, communication tip sheets for PWDs, and accessible evacuation centers, among others.
On a commitment wall, the NDRRMC, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), civil society organizations pledged to heed the lessons learned from previous typhoons, and uphold the principle of inclusivity to ensure that the voices of everyone are taken into account, including those of PWDs.
Though a major leap for disaster-prone Philippines, disability advocates say the journey is only just beginning.
“There’s the (legal) framework (for inclusion), but now you have to implement the framework to the barangay level. That is the next step, and that’s something that’s lacking at this moment especially for persons with disability,” said Edith van Wijngaarden, program director of Handicap International.
Inclusion, van Wijngaarden said, will not come by itself. Though backed by laws and international conventions, it needs special attention, taking from lessons learned previous disasters like Yolanda.
According to the UN Enable, PWDs face higher risks of being left behind when disasters strike, especially with scarce resources. Compared to regular people, PWDs are more prone to further disabilities, or even death, due to lack of accessible facilities and services.
A signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the Philippines is mandated to ensure the protection and safety of PWDs in situations of risk, such as humanitarian emergencies.
The country’s own disaster law, Republic Act No. 10121, ensures that the capacities of marginalized groups, “differently-abled people” included, are strengthened in disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
For Handicap International Communication Officer Kevin Santos, there are enough laws on disaster and disability, but refinement of these laws is needed to ensure that no one is left behind.
He said PWDs are still not fully integrated in the country’s existing DRR schemes. Proof lies in the absence of locations of PWDs in the contingency plans of some communities, among others.
According to Fajardo, PWDs are taken care of by the disaster council in the response phase of disaster management.
“If you look at our cluster on response, there is a particular (provision) about protection, not only of PWDs but the other vulnerable groups,” he said. “They are not forgotten.”
For Santos, however, PWDs should also be part of the solution.
Beyond policy making, Santos said it is crucial to break the social barriers that PWDs are not capable of helping in the disaster management process.
“We have a stigma that (PWDs) are not capacitated in helping the community to be more resilient,” he said. The approach, he explained, should be working “with them,” instead of “for them.”
Santos said there has to be a national agenda to address these barriers.
Fajardo acknowledges the need to disseminate and “downscale” the framework to the level of communities.
He said the SURGE covered only four regions in the country, and all the other regions have yet to learn lessons from the project.
“We need to propagate awareness to the whole population. If we can do that, then we have taken a giant step. The rest will come easy,” Fajardo said.
Meanwhile, for van Wijngaarden, consultation is key to a disability-inclusive DRR. “If you have a warning system that’s whistle, what are you going to do to people who could not hear?”
To integrate PWDs in the DRR strategy, the approach is simple: “Just ask them to participate in different councils,” van Wijngaarden said.
“Who can better talk about the needs of persons with disability than persons with disability themselves?” she asked.
Santos noted that PWDs have specific and diverse needs that the government must be able to address.
“That is to make sure that no one gets left behind amid our country’s growth, and to make sure that everyone is included in planning how to cope with disasters,” he said.
Though mandatory, inclusion is an added value, Santos said. At the end of the day, it is an attitude that starts with oneself.
“Are you being inclusive? Are you yourself being aware of those barriers? Do you have that stigma against PWDs and vulnerable groups?” he asked.