The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses its condolences to the Filipino people, in particular those that have lost their loved ones and homes in the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck yesterday, February 6, in the islands of Negros and Cebu, in the Visayas.
On the islands of Negros and Cebu, where some of the country’s poorest live, the extent of the impact into the lives of the people and their society as a result of this tragedy is expectedly even more. How the affected people respond to the earthquake, as shown by the footage and the pictures taken during the earthquake, demonstrates the depth of uncertainty as to where they should go for help. The panic and chaos at the time of the disaster were not only the people’s traumatic response, but also a result of the deep sense of uncertainty in events of disasters.
The information is that the number of deaths is increasing, in one report from the government’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the deaths was recorded at 15. Subsequent reports, however, have since been coming out raising the even more that 50 people with scores of others wounded. Many persons are missing. Roads and bridges have been damaged and made impassable for any but the lightest or smallest vehicles. The dead include two elementary school children who died when the walls of their school collapsed.
A level 2 tsunami alert was issued by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology for the areas along the Tanon Strait between Negros and neighboring Cebu. Fortunately there was no sign of a tsunami and the alert was later lifted. The AHRC appreciates the sense of community, particularly by the military stationed in the affected areas, for coordinating with local government offices in conducting search and rescue operation; and evacuation centres were set up in some affected areas. In some places security has been tightened to prevent looting.
This disaster, once again, demonstrates the resilience of the Filipino people. The local government involved should take immediate action in declaring their affected areas under a state of calamity, which would allow the release of the calamity fund. The relief and assistance, in addition to rescuing the people saving their lives, particularly those trapped in collapsed buildings or those who are still missing, is of an immediate and utmost importance.
The people’s response to the earthquake, which come is less than two months after tropical storm Sendong, that also claimed over a thousand lives and left others still missing in Mindanao, demonstrates as to how the government had since been taking actions in securing lives and the property of their constituents in terms of preparedness in event of disasters. In poor provinces like Negros and Cebu, where most people barely receive the benefits of government service or the presence of the government is felt, traumatic response and panic in the event of disasters are inevitable.
In this type of society, the people make all efforts for their own survival, in absence or lack of government intervention; the people are left on their own to figure out what they need to do in order to preserve themselves and their families; and, doing as much as they can do in community with others, in providing relief and aid to their own neighbors, again, in the event when the government fails.
Once again, while the AHRC commends the efforts of the people, and the actions that the government has taken so far; however, we further urge that both the national and local governments do more in saving the lives and property of the people. Those who are hardest hit and had suffered the most, particularly the poorest sections of these provinces where relief and assistance are needed, should also be given utmost priority.
