Kwento Mo sa Pagong: We should learn from previous disasters

(This was one of the activities on my online course)

CoVid 19 - Biological Hazard 

This hazard has taken so many lives worldwide because (1) we were surprised by how highly contagious this virus was, (2) doctors and scientists took much time researching on how to counteract the virus, and (3) hospital capacity became so limited. The vulnerable, which are those who have pre-existing medical conditions, the elderly, and the children, are the majority of the casualties.

But, after 5 years, I think we have learned on how to correctly and systematically respond to the threat of Covid 19. With the combined efforts of the different government agencies, local to national level, and with the cooperation of the public, we are standing up again as a nation.

Going through pandemic has taught us many things, like adapting to the new normal. One example of this is that many institutions now are practicing work from home set-up, teleconference meetings, remote set-ups, that even the DepEd and the CHED have included the said set-up in their curriculum. Now, we have become somehow resilient to the threat of future pandemic because we already know what to do, as long as we enhance and develop these learnings and systematic approach to ensure strengthened actions on DRRM for biological hazards.

West Ph Sea - Anthropogenic Hazard - Societal and Conflict 

For more than a decade now, the West Ph Sea has become the reason of conflict between Philippines and China. It has also become an international issue because China is obviously claiming Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoul without a legitimate reference. The very reason why some countries are siding with the Philippines.

What made this hazard less a disaster is that we just let China do its thing with the West Ph Sea. There is no recorded casualties as of writing. However, this will change if a strong willed leader will step-up and claim what's really ours. But, if we are afraid of the result of a strong willed leader's decision against the action of China, we might wake up one day to a country that is not entirely ours anymore.

With this analysis, the only DRR measures I see for this hazard is not just having a strong willed leader but also wise and discerning one. And the role of the people? To vote for that kind of leader.