The Top Ten Things Every Filipino Should Do During These Difficult Times

After Typhoon Yolanda (International Name: Haiyan) swept our nation, we could not help but post our reactions online and make people know what we think about the relief efforts. On one end of the spectrum, there are people who are very hopeful and would give their all to help the typhoon victims. Then there are the naysayers, the critics who think they can do better than those doing the relief efforts. And there are those who are very ambivalent, those who are neither hopeful nor cynical. And from what I saw online and discussed with my friends (over coffee, hakaw, and facebook), I have decided to list down the ten things that we need to do to pro-actively respond to the aftermath of the calamity.  

1.       Team up!
Alone we can do little, but together, we can do so much. No one person can bear all the problems that the typhoon has left. Can you imagine organizing a relief effort or saving an entire province by yourself? In the spirit of bayanihan, we should work with groups that are organizing relief efforts, whether they are government, non-profit, Church, private corporations, or schools. This way, we can ensure that more gets done and our individual effort is multiplied a hundredfold.  

2.       Honor the good that is being done.
When you check your Twitter or Facebook account nowadays, there’s a chance that you’ll see people criticizing the slowness of the relief operations. It is so difficult to get things going on the ground. In previous typhoons, it was easy to coordinate relief efforts. After Yolanda, it took at least a day or two before relief operations started because communication lines were down. It is a gargantuan task to mount a relief program, so the best we can do is to honor them for the good that they do despite the many difficulties they face. And if they do have to improve on anything, let your criticism be constructive.

3.       Inspire each other to do good.

Being positive during this time is difficult. It is easy to just sit back and think that the relief work is someone else’s job. But can you imagine the scope of work that needs to be done?  This is the time for us to remind each other that we have a role to play in all of the recovery process. We cannot remain indifferent of the plight of our brothers and sisters down south. It is an imperative for us who have been spared to share what we can to those who have been affected by the typhoon. No one is too poor that he cannot give.

4.       Think of ways by which we can contribute to the rehabilitation process

Relief is but a short-term solution. Have you ever asked, “So what’s next?” There is so much work to be done. The magnitude of the problem is so great that the solution must also be great. We need to maximize our skills and expertise to rebuild the provinces that were heavily damaged the typhoon.  A lot of professionals are needed in the affected provinces to start the rehabilitation process, not to mention the amount that we need to raise to rebuild. If you are in the position to offer any assistance, do not hold back. Give like you have never been given before!

5.       Share correct and updated information

Some things that have triggered the fury of many netizens are articles and pictures from previous typhoons, going as far back as Ondoy. This does not help at all. Before reposting anything on Facebook or Twitter, check the date the article was written. Ensure that all information, including the telephone numbers and bank account details that you post are updated and correct. Furthermore, if you have live updates from relief centers, post them on the internet so that people would know what kind of help is needed and what kind of goods are lacking. This way, our relief efforts become more effective and people's time and resources are not wasted.

6.       Get a wider perspective on the issues at hand

On social media, people have the tendency to look at the news about the typhoon as fragments rather than taking them as a whole. This causes people to react on the basis of one article without necessarily understanding the big picture. People will talk about the speed of the relief without really considering the damage that the province has experienced, how difficult it has been to clear the roads, or even the fact that this is the strongest typhoon that ever made landfall in the history of the world. Before we criticize, let us make sure that we have a good understanding of the realities on the ground.

7.        Stop spreading negativity.

No one brought the typhoon here. It went through the regular storm path and it also happened to be the strongest typhoon the world has ever seen. Do not blame local government officials for the death tolls. No one could have prepared well for a typhoon of that scale. Even the richest of nations would not have been able to withstand the onslaught. There’s also no point in comparing our response to that of Japan during the tsunami in 2012. So why should we even bother cursing at people on Facebook and wasting our brain cells to criticize people?  Let us rechannel our energies to creating positive impact on the lives of those who were affected by the typhoon.

8.       Strengthen preparations for future disasters.
Truth: Yolanda broke international scales when it made landfall, therefore it is the first of its kind. Due to climate change, we can expect stronger and more violent typhoons. This means that we have to be better prepared for the future - whether it means reinforcing our roofs and walls at home, or creating better disaster risk reduction measures in our workplace, or even having emergency response kits. We should take into consideration the gravity of the damage that typhoons can cause. Let us do better research on what we can do and use Yolanda as a learning experience.

9.       Educate.  

More than just sharing useful information on social media, it is also important that we start educating poor communities who have little to no access about the possible impacts of future typhoons. Whenever there are natural disasters, the poor are always the first to suffer and the last to recover. We must make sure that they know what to do when typhoons like this come. We still have two or three coming before the year ends, so we have to start educating people as soon as possible to avoid casualties.

10.   Walang iwanan. (Leave no one behind)

In times like these, we should find strength in God and in each other. People would ask, “Where is God in all this?” A lot would feel abandoned and cursed for bearing the brunt of the typhoon. God is in everyone and he calls upon us to be our brothers and sisters’ keeper during this difficult time. He is in the mother that comforts her child after the trauma surviving the typhoon, in the army officials who do the rescue operations, in the volunteers who sacrifice their time and resources, and in the people working 24/7 to ensure that people get the help that they need. There is so much to be done and we can only achieve so much by not leaving anyone behind.  The road to recovery will be long and hard. There will be times that we will feel like our efforts are futile because of the length of time needed to recover. Let us be patient.  Let us have faith that we can get through this. WALANG IMPOSIBLE KUNG WALANG IWANAN.