Environmentalists criticize gov't neglect to prevent disasters

ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews/1 Oct) -- Environmentalists here expressed alarm over the government’s neglect in putting up measures to prevent disasters, like what happened when Typhoon Ondoy hit Metro Manila.

Mark Cervantes, project officer of Ecoweb Inc., an NGO specializing on disaster risk reduction, said disasters happen because Filipinos love to talk about how to manage it, but “there is a need for all of us to start thinking and responding to natural hazards through mitigation and preventive measures.”

Cervantes said that “addressing vulnerabilities during hazards like increasing survivability and community readiness capacities is a must. Local governments should start coming up with their contingency plans and comprehensive plans on disaster risk reduction.”

He pointed out that disasters are “not natural” and that “people have control.” He said that natural hazards are there, but these will become worse because of human actions, like in the case of climate change that is largely blamed on human activities. [More at MindaNews]