The recent devastation brought by Super Typhoon Uwan has again reminded Catanduanes of a painful but necessary truth: no matter how “typhoon-hardened” we believe we are; our systems will always reveal their cracks when communication fails and leadership falters. The province has long prided itself on resilience, but resilience without coordination, accuracy, and accountability is merely improvisation—dangerous, unstable, and unsustainable.
Catanduanes has endured countless calamities, and through these, our local government units (LGUs) should have gained not only experience but institutional wisdom. Yet Typhoon Uwan exposed weaknesses in information flow, disaster assessment, and official responsiveness. While many LGU units responded quickly, others revealed alarming gaps—gaps that start with misinformation and end with misgovernance. As the saying goes, *“The worst of times is the best of times”—*because calamities expose who among our elected officials understand their basic and extraordinary functions, and who merely occupy their seats.
Incompetence has no place in moments like this. The Constitution itself commands public officials to perform with “responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency” (Art. XI, Sec. 1, 1987 Constitution). Efficiency is not a suggestion—it is a constitutional duty. Typhoon Uwan, therefore, becomes our litmus test, our barometer, our measuring tool for the competence of officials who have long enjoyed the privileges of office. The “ball,” as you said, is in their hands; the calamity exposed whether they can dribble it with clarity or drop it through confusion.
A major point of breakdown is always at the grassroots. Assessment of partially and totally damaged houses—perennial sources of controversy in barangays—continues to suffer from inconsistent systems, subjective evaluation, and political interference. Yet this assessment is the very foundation upon which the national government determines assistance, validates claims, and releases funds. Without accurate and standardized reporting, the entire machinery of disaster relief collapses. This violates the mandate of Section 16 of the Local Government Code (General Welfare Clause), which obligates LGUs to ensure the safety, comfort, and welfare of their constituents. When barangay assessments are flawed or manipulated, the right of affected citizens to immediate government relief is effectively obstructed.
The law is clear. Republic Act 10121, the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, requires LGUs to establish protocols before, during, and after calamities, emphasizing preparedness and evidence-based reporting. Barangays should not be scrambling to measure losses after a storm; they should have pre-disaster inventories—of crops, structures, livestock, equipment, and other assets—which can serve as baseline data for accurate damage assessment. This is sound governance and aligns with Article II, Section 15, which mandates the State to protect and promote the people’s right to health and safety. When LGUs fail to prepare, they fail the Constitution.
Catanduanes, as the unofficial “Typhoon Capital of the Philippines,” can no longer afford an ad hoc or reactive system. Routine inventory, standardized evaluation guidelines, and regular barangay training should be embedded measures—not optional activities. Damage estimation should not depend on memory, guesswork, or politics. Pre-calamity data is not a luxury; it is the backbone of credible, lawful post-calamity reporting.
Agriculture tells the same story. Crop damage assessment continues to be speculative because many LGUs lack updated inventory of planted areas, expected harvest, or actual pre-storm conditions. Yet agriculture is always first to fall during disasters. Again, RA 10121 requires proactive risk reduction, not post-disaster scrambling. A robust system would allow immediate, verifiable estimates within hours of landfall, enabling the national government to deploy assistance faster and with confidence.
At the end of the day, Typhoon Uwan has given us an uncomfortable but necessary lesson: resilience is not measured by how fast we recover—it is measured by how well we prepare. Catanduanes cannot remain a “survivor province” on memory and bravery alone. We must become a data-driven, system-oriented, constitutionally aligned model of disaster governance. And to do this, we must demand competence—because incompetence during a calamity is not just inefficiency; it is a violation of the Constitution, of the Local Government Code, and of the trust of the people.
Typhoon Uwan did not just test our strength. It exposed our weaknesses. And now, it challenges every elected official—from barangay captain to provincial legislator—to prove that they deserve the power the people entrusted to them.
