President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who partied with Prospero Pichay on Wednesday night amid devastation caused by typhoon Ondoy, proudly spoke about disaster preparedness in her last state of the nation address:
International authorities have taken notice that we are safer from environmental degradation and man-made disasters.
As a country in the path of typhoons and in the Pacific Rim of Fire, we must be prepared as the latest technology permits to anticipate natural calamities when that is possible; to extend immediate and effective relief when it is not. The mapping of flood- and landslide-prone areas is almost complete. Early warning, forecasting and monitoring systems have been improved, with weather tracking facilities in Subic, Tagaytay, Mactan, Mindanao, Pampanga.
We have worked on flood control infrastructure like those for Pinatubo, Agno, Laoag, and Abucay, which will pump the run off waters from Quezon City and Tondo flooding Sampaloc. This will help relieve hundreds of hectares in this old city of its age old woe.
Patuloy naman iyong sa Camanava, dagdag sa Pinatubo, Iloilo, Pasig-Marikina, Bicol River Basin, at mga river basin ng Mindanao.
The victims of typhoon Frank in Panay should receive their long-overdue assistance package.
All meant nothing, Mrs. Arroyo, when Ondoy came. Nothing and that’s another disaster.
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