Humanitarian Crisis in Davao Region ( Southeast Philippines)

Whatever each of us can do to help will surely be puny compared to the tremendous relief & rehabilitation work that needs to be done in the wake of typhoon Pablo. A few days after the landfall of typhoon Pablo, some of us joined the Philippine government through Secretary Dinky Soliman of the Department Of Social Welfare & Development (DSWD) in a humanitarian meeting in Davao City with various UN agencies, local & international NGOs for rapid assessment & to take up immediate needs & next steps for the survivors in the communities affected by storm Pablo in the Davao region. The Philippine government will have two hubs in its relief & rehabilitation efforts in the next weeks & months: Trento, Agusan del Sur for Davao Oriental & Nabunturan for Compostela Valley. The DSWD is coordinating all relief work and making sure that there will be equality of assistance & that no one is left behind in any of the affected areas.

Bringing basic immediate needs to areas isolated by destroyed bridges & consoling distraught communities are tasks which seem to be overly imagined in our recent disaster risk reduction workshops. But, our relief workers & local government leaders who are also victims are in a state of shock themselves – with not only the scale of devastation but of communities losing hope over loss of loved ones & livelihood. So, a way to go for Davao Oriental, for example, which is the coconut capital of the Philippines is to work with our Department of Agriculture to properly access the coco levy funds for the rehabilitation of the coco industry. The Department of Health must be well entrenched at the barangay level for wounds of the body and of the spirit.  

The timetable to address immediate needs for the Davao provinces affected is about six months or so but the long term rehabilitation work will take years. My sense is that while emergency and calamity humanitarian funds are available, the donor community will still have to raise more funds for long term development & rehabilitation work & only after a proper rapid assessment of the scope & scale of needs & requirements.

Part of this rapid assessment includes good information management & tools for collection of data disaggregated demographically & up to the village or barangay level. Electricity which is down in these areas is crucial in the access of these electronic data by the local government units & relief volunteer workers.

Our lessons include LGU mastery of the geo hazard maps, designation of permanent danger zones which our survivors should not go back to.

While we know that some are more vulnerable than others, my take home lesson is that from now on, all of us are vulnerable to climate change. Both rich and poor constituents were affected in the various towns of the Davao region. This was a deluge which knew no social class or other divides as storm Pablo affected all in its path.

There is an appeal to media to not further dehumanize the victims by highlighting the understandable scramble for food by our survivors who have been without food and have lost their homes during the typhoon.

Our organizations (MINCODE & PILIPINA Legal Resources Center) will forego with our traditional Christmas party rituals in solidarity during this time of humanitarian crisis and will work for relief instead. It is heartwarming that the Malacanang Palace will not be having their Christmas party, too, in order to make donations instead.

MINCODE, and PILIPINA are into relief & rehabilitation work. Mincode’s Pablo Relief Operations is “Our Help is our Christmas Prayer” in 3 provinces. The relief centers are in Carmen for Davao del Norte, Monkayo for Compostela Valley & Mati for Davao Oriental. MINCODE’s office is at No.3 Juna Avenue, Matina, Davao City.  

Before the landfall ( Nov 29, 2012 ) 

I spent the last days of November this year in my maternal grandparents’ estate in Baganga, Davao Oriental.  When I was a child, we used to travel to these parts through a big ship that passes by Baganga en route to Cebu. This time, after many years, we traveled in very well paved roads all the way to the town of Baganga.

Before reaching the Davao Oriental coastal towns with a great view of the Pacific Ocean on the horizon, one gets to see Samal Island from Lupon & Pantukan. Except the mountainous path of Tarragona & Mati City, the roads to these eastern towns are along the coasts.

A long time ago, when logging was legal, my paternal forefathers, who were in the tugboat business, used to travel to Mati via Davao gulf & to the Pacific side.  There was nothing pacific about the Pacific ocean with waves as tall as mountains & stories of incidents of near capsize were legendary. And these tall waves, I saw again last weekend in Baganga just before the landfall of the storm Pablo. I learned that waves are stronger in Davao Oriental during Amihan or Northeast monsoon which is about this time than during Habagat or Southwest monsoon at mid year.  So, imagine the mountain tall Amihan waves & howling winds reinforcing storm Pablo.

The rivers in these parts are still crystal clear clean and deep blue as can be. Fresh water shrimps and crabs are abundant in primary forest mangroves. These parts are also the coconut capital of the Philippines and with the low price of copra, the poverty is palpable.

We were traveling at late afternoon and were still on the road when the moon came out in a majestic “china moon” splendor. There were no street lights along the way but the foliage were shining like light bulbs and the crest & troughs of the ocean were in phosphorescence. But, I imagine the roads will be pitch - black without the moonlight.

The mountainous pass just before Mati City is spectacular with a view of the Dinasaur island near Dawan road. In Mati, Dahican beach is famous for its tall waves for surfing.

Some of the Davao Oriental towns like Baganga & Caraga are older settlements than Davao City as evidenced by the Caraga heritage church & old forts. It is such a pity that Baganga had to demolish its heritage old church.

Once upon a time, the four Davao provinces now ( Norte, Oriental, Del Sur & Compostela Valley) were just one province that one wonders whether so much revenues are wasted by having so many layers of bureaucratic & management structures in four provinces. Anyway, now, we are the Davao region. The Davao region can probably be one state one day in a federal system of government.

Meantime, we can only pray that the storm Pablo will just pass and our fellows and loved ones in Davao Oriental, will be blessed again to see the sunshine first - ahead of us all, as they live in the most eastern part of our land.  ( written Dec 4, 2012 during landfall) 


Photocredits : 

a) Lambajon, Baganga wharf with crowd by  Eden Jhan Licayan 
b) Baganga poblacion by Jacquelou Dayanan- Rivera