Network calls for better mechanisms in caring for the dead

As the Filipino people remember their dead, a network of non-government organizations involved in disaster response and rehabilitation calls on the government to review its policies on dealing with huge death toll during disasters.

The Climate Change Network for Community-Based Initiatives (CCNCI) noted that thousands of the victims of supertyphoon Yolanda remain unidentified to this day. According to a report, majority of the 2,273 buried in a mass grave in barangay Basper, Tacloban City remain unidentified by their loved ones.

“The pain must have been so much for those who have not found the bodies of their loved ones,” Suyin Jamoralin, convenor of CCNI, said. “Where to light candles? Where to grieve? There is no closure.”

The CCNI said it is apparent that the government failed to establish a quick system of identifying the victims.

The CCNI noted that the National Bureau of Investigation’s method of identifying the bodies proved to be slow and inefficient compared to the procedure suggested by forensic experts from the University of the Philippines. The NBI insisted on the more detailed International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) procedure, which required, among others, taking of DNA samples from each body and ignored the proposal of UP for experts for faster, more practical procedures set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“If only the NBI listened to the sound advice of experts, more bodies could have been identified and more families would have found it easier to move on,” Jamoralin said.

As of April 2014, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council placed the death toll at 6,340. Over a thousand are still missing.

The CCNI called on the NBI and other government agencies concerned to review their mechanisms in dealing with the dead. The network said better systems should be put in place in response to future disasters.

The CCNI said that the survivors, meanwhile, find it difficult to recover from the tragedy due to lack of government support. “In the case of Yolanda, both the living and the dead continue to be neglected by the government,” Jamoralin said.

The CCNI will hold a forum on Nov. 7 to mark the first anniversary of supertyphoon Yolanda. Its member-organizations will present lessons for community-based initiatives in dealing with disasters and climate change.