Super typhoon “Carina” struck the Philippines on July 19, adding another count to the country’s long list of battles against brutal calamities, exposing its vulnerability.

Although stranded students in affected dormitories around University of Santo Tomas received aid during the typhoon, the familiar scenario of knee-deep water around the University clearly raises questions on why these sights keep on happening. It might be confusing to think that despite UST’s years-long effort for a drainage system upgrade, Sampaloc, Manila remains a flood-prone area and the campus stays as its catch basin.

The Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) priority areas include disaster preparedness, response, prevention and mitigation, and disaster rehabilitation and recovery. Although it is not a cycle per se, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management (NDRRM) emphasized that these “do not, should not, and cannot stand alone.”

The main problem does not solely lie in relief efforts and recovery operations after each and every storm, as it is the predictable approach of the government in these kinds of situations: rescue, relief, and recovery.

Despite the P556 billion allocation for flood controls as prevention measures, its actual implementation is nowhere to be found. In a press release last July 29, Sen. Grace Poe pushed to investigate the “underutilization of the budget” for flood control projects as there is a decreasing trend of the use of funds from 2021 to 2023. We should have been moved from being reactive to being proactive strategists a long time ago, yet here we are.

During the last weeks of October, “Kristine” marked Luzon and some parts of the Visayas with its passing. Nearly 9.6 million people were affected by the widespread flooding and landslides, with about 160 deaths. Facing super typhoon “Pepito,” high tropical cyclone wind signals (TCWS) were hoisted until signal no. 5 in many parts of Luzon. With this, the country was set to experience another round of fight and flight with another typhoon, even if they were still recovering from the grueling effects that “Kristine” had brought.

There is a clear focus on the resiliency aspect of the disaster management plan, but citizens would rather feel at ease if they knew that they wouldn’t have to reach the resiliency part of NDRRM’s plan. As we are in the middle of another strong typhoon, the four pillars of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Plan (NDRRMP) should prove that it can firmly stand its ground against these unprecedented strike of winds and bursts of rain and not have its citizens be just resilient as always.

However, resiliency is not something that we should evade, but not romanticized either. According to a study from Arellano University, which Anjo Agbay cited in his blog, the foundation of “Filipino resiliency” is anchored on three factors: heavily sourced from our families, the fact that families are the most basic unit of society, and that we would sacrifice everything for their needs. This is where Local Government Units have been fixated, ignoring the real and long-term solutions as they pin the burden of survival to the Filipinos.

When the floodwaters rise again, may the Filipino people remember that resiliency should not be the countrymen’s last hope; it should be their last resort.