AHRC-STM-208-2011
December 19, 2011
A Statement from the Asian Human Rights Commission
Philippines: Mindanao Disaster - Improving Warning Systems & Profiling Of Corpses Are A Must
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) expresses its deepest condolences to the Filipino people in the cities of
Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and nearby areas where over 600 people died and hundreds of others are missing following flash
floods due to Tropical Storm Sendong (international name: Washi). Our hearts go out to the families of the dead some of whom are relatives and friends of
persons known to us, who still struggles to comprehend the extent of the magnitude of the disaster.
The Philippines, as a tropical country, is often hit by dozens of tropical storms every year; however, Sendong was particularly disastrous because it hit the areas north of Mindanao that are geographically not prone to typhoons.
The disaster, however, speaks to the efficiency or inefficiency of the government's public early warning system, its
capacity to respond to emergencies and how it deals their aftermath.
In this instance we have a location where people rarely experience typhoons. The usual warning by the measure of the
downpour in 'millimetres of rain' and about the location of storm to landfall by 'radius' proved to have been
disastrous. The people in the affected areas may not have grasped the meaning of this warning language, if indeed the
weather bureau had adequately given warning in terms that illustrated the real danger in a way that is understandable to
the ordinary people.
The weather bureau feel that they issued adequate warnings but the fact is that the technical language used did not
adequately inform the people they were trying to reach. When the people do not realise that they have to prepare the
public warning system in itself is a failure. The purpose of any early warning is to avoid loss of lives and to predict
where the disaster will fall in order to ascertain what the government and its apparatus should do. However, as shown in
this incident both these objectives were not met.
Therefore, instead of putting the blame at its each other's doorstep, the weather bureau and the local government
officials should both learn from this in order to improve the early warning system to reduce and if possible, avoid loss
of life in future. Here, we see the urgent need to develop an early public warning system that is comprehensible to the
would-be affected. They should be understandable to ordinary people and not the usual daily 'weather forecast' that fail
to transmit its importance of its warning. Furthermore, the people themselves must be educated to pay attention to the
weather warnings so that they can prepare themselves.
Also, we deeply appreciate the resilience, the compassion and humanity of the Filipino people in helping to save the
lives of hundreds of others, particularly those swept into the sea that were rescued by the ordinary people. Their sense
of unity and community in times of disaster is very strong wherein it was the ordinary people, who narrated and
documented the extent of damage, who had become the sources of reliable and first hand information. They made a great
contribution at the early critical hours of the disaster to inform the public and the media of the magnitude of the
disaster.
The outpouring of relief, assistance and aid both from within and outside the country have been possible because of
these nameless individuals who care for others, their community and their compassionate to narrate theirs and others
suffering so as to be able to get some help. The Filipino people should be proud of these people as they serve as an
inspiration to improve the condition of their society. This type of attitude and unity is what makes change possible by
way of exposing the ills of any society.
The AHRC, on the other hand, also strongly supports the Philippine's local and national health department to ensure that
all the corpses are profiled, had traces of physical identification--wherever possible--for future identification,
instead of burying them in mass graves. To bury these bodies akin to 'rotting garbage' is not acceptable. In a country
where forensic identification is, if not new, then alien to most, it is of great importance to observe strictly the
profiling of corpses before they are buried.
The families of the dead and those whose hundreds of others who are still missing must not be deprived of the
possibilities of reclaiming their dead, now or in future, for reason of mere convenience and the expediency of the local
officials to bury the corpses at once without profiling them. The fear of the spread of diseases and contamination
because of the rotting corpses in order to justify the mass graves has already been rejected by health officials as
having no scientific basis. Therefore, resources should also be made available on which the unclaimed corpses are
profiled, thoroughly documented and safely archived for future identification of those who lost their loved ones.
While there is an urgent need to provide for relief and aid assistance; however, there should also be resources,
manpower and expertise made available to make the profiling of corpses possible. This would certainly have great
importance in helping the families of the dead, those who lost their loved ones and for the government as well to
improve its capacity in dealing with this type of disasters in future having enormous number of fatalities. For
humanitarian consideration, to those who have died, who themselves have live their lives, their identities, their
stories and relations, must be afforded with compassion so as to ensure that no person disappears without a trace.
We call on forensic experts from private and government institutions, particularly those who have expertise in forensic
identification, from inside and outside the country to consider volunteering their expertise and service by working with
local and national health officials at the affected area to make that profiling happen. Their contribution would extend
beyond helping the families of the dead but also of improving how the government of the Philippines should address
disasters of this magnitude in future.
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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia,
documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these
rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
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ENDS