Description

People of the Philippines prepare themselves yearly for natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes.

Transcript

Preparing for Natural Disasters in Philippines Narrator: Just as people in Bangladesh may want to do when the flood strike, so do people in the Philippines are prepared for the many natural hazards they may have to face. With 21 active volcanoes, daily earth tremors and around 20 typhoons a year, people need to be ready. When super Typhoon Rosing struck the fishing village of Dinahikan in November 1995, Raymond and his wife Janette were two of the last to evacuate. Janette Abiquibil: They were still fishing out. I was worried because they still hadn’t returned and the typhoon was coming. Raimond Abiquibil: The radio reported that huge waves would be coming. With a typhoon like that, there are tidal waves too. Narrator: Most of the fishing village was destroyed but the fact that no one lost their life is a good indication of how well they were prepared for disaster. Working with a local branch of the Citizen’s Disaster Response Network, the villagers administered their aid’s team. And although it’s only a month since the devastation of Typhoon Rosing, the people of Dinahikan are practicing their evacuation drill because once the typhoon has past, they have to return to their lives on the shore. There’s nowhere one else for them to go or any other way they can earn living. Raimond Abiquibil: There is no other livelihood here apart from the sea. Here, even as a child, you're already working at sea. People here don’t have much of an education that’s why we’re reluctant to leave and to look for work. That’s why we put up with life here. Narrator: As if they didn’t have enough to cope with, the land owner of the coconut plantation is now trying to stop them moving further up the shore accusing them of encroaching on his land. But the villagers have little choice, as the shoreline erodes each time there’s another typhoon. Raimond Abiquibil: There's no way we’re going to move. Anyway, it's not their land. Up to 50 meters from the shore, the land legally belongs to the government. Would you think that was more than 50 meters? Narrator: Raimond and the rest of the fishing community know that if they move, they make themselves far more at risk from natural hazards. But with no job, they have no chance of rebuilding their lives. In the capital Manila, Belen Roma and the squatters of Freedom Island were also hit by Typhoon Rosing. She explains how she stopped her roof collapsing. Belen Roma: If we hadn’t doubled up the rope and tied down the roof, it would have blown away. All the other houses around here fell down. Narrator: Her neighbor is less lucky. Rafael Nalaunan I was almost killed. I was blown away with the house. I was knocked around and around inside my house. I was trying to force the door closed, like this but the wind is blowing it open. As I was trying to step it, the house was blown away with me in it. Narrator: Belen and Rafael were afraid to evacuate during the typhoon in case they were not allowed to return to their homes. The land is a prime development site and Manila is expanding rapidly. Belen Roma: We can't just leave the place. I've been here since 1982. It's a long time. We can't just move on. Why? Well, we've been through so much here. When we came to the island, we had to clear all of this area. Then, we planted some cassava. I was one of the first here to make a living from this land. Later, they moved the squatters here from Baclaran. Narrator: Her fear is that the typhoon would be used to encourage people not to return and rebuild our right. Some families have accepted the government offer of $250.00 to move out. They are now dismantling their typhoon damaged houses. Belen wants to know why they are willing to move. Belen Roma: Which was the strongest typhoon to hit you? Female: Tyhoon Rosing. Belen Roma: So the guards wouldn’t let you put up the house again? Female: No, that’s not really it. they would have let us, but my husband didn’t want to wince we would still have had to take it down if we were going to move. Of course, sooner or alter we’ll all have to move anyway. Narrator: As well as $250.00, the Freedom Islanders has been offered houses far away on the mountains. But Belen knows that just as security does not depend on being able to survive a typhoon nor is it just a quick fix, a new home and cash in hand. Her daughter Susan has a newborn baby, and Susan’s husband works as a night guard in the city. If they moved, he would lose his job. Belen and her daughter would no longer be able to collect clams and sell fish. Like the fishing villages in Dinahikan, Belen realizes that if she is to provide for herself and her family, she needs to be close to her source of income. Belen Roma: We depend on the sea. If they force us to move to the mountains, how can we make a living there? If you take a fish out of water, it dies. What I'm thinking now is that I am already old. I shouldn’t have to fight. I'm only thinking of my grandchildren and their future. They have no land of their own.