The Philippine Star
November 11, 2025 | 12:00am
The Department of the Interior and Local Government and Malacañang will reportedly investigate several local executives who proceeded with overseas trips as Typhoons Tino and Uwan approached.
Whether the probe will amount to anything remains to be seen. Even the governor of Isabela, who ignored a DILG order to remain in town beginning Nov. 9 when Uwan was forecast to make landfall, appeared to be guilty mostly of “bad taste,” according to the DILG secretary himself, Jonvic Remulla.
Fortunately for those in the path of the super typhoon, Uwan did not wreak as much havoc as Tino did in Cebu and the Negros provinces. Perhaps that was why Remulla, who previously drew flak for his sick sense of humor, appeared amused by Isabela Gov. Rodito Albano telling his constituents to just “chill” since there was nothing they could do about an approaching super typhoon, and they could not build a “Noah’s Ark.”
In fact there’s a lot that can be done, especially with organized and proper supervision by authorities, to minimize the casualties and destruction from any natural calamity. And there are a lot of people in vulnerable communities who need help in confronting a tropical cyclone and flash floods, especially with extreme weather becoming the new normal.
Preparedness includes, among other things, timely evacuation to decent temporary shelters, putting rescue teams and equipment such as rubber boats in place, and readying food packs and emergency health services.
Tino called for all hands on deck. In several parts of Cebu, however, residents were trapped on their house rooftops for up to a day, and it took a few more days to find the bodies of the dead. Weather scientists said they issued sufficient warnings about the expected impact of Tino.
While the flash flood was unusual and its possible causes now under investigation, better preparedness could have helped bring down the steep death toll.
Disaster preparedness and mitigation, however, cannot be prioritized by local executives whose minds are on foreign trips. Seven town mayors of Cebu, including the mayor of Tino-battered Liloan, plus a provincial board member reportedly proceeded with trips to Europe before the typhoon struck.
Albano left for Germany to attend an agricultural fair, ignoring the cancellation of all leaves by the DILG, but promised to return home on the first available flight, according to Remulla.
When local government officials and the Cabinet member with supervision over them see humor in natural calamities that claim hundreds of lives and destroy billions worth of property and crops, you can see why the nation is in such a disastrous state.