The Gist

A PANDEMIC, A SUPERTYPHOON, AND A MISSING LEADER: THE INTERNET ASKS #NASAANANGPANGULO

"Where is the President?" Many Filipinos asked on Sunday morning, November 1, as the world's biggest predicted tropical storm makes Philippine landfall in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis.

PAULINE NACAR / 3 November 2020

Strong winds, heavy rainfall and flooding are not new realities to the Philippines, especially to regions right beside the ocean, who are most likely first to be affected by tropical storms. Most people might think that Filipinos are already well-equipped on how to handle these natural disasters, given the amount of experiences we’ve had throughout the years. However, it’s always important to have a clear voice of a leader to calm anxieties with efficient plans and programs to minimize the damage. As super typhoon Rolly entered the country, citizens were left disappointed and frustrated for the lack of one.

In fact, the overall lack of leadership in the national level was felt more and more as the storm continued to terrorize regions across the country. Noticeably, the first public briefing was done 5 hours after Rolly made landfall in Catanduanes at 4:50 AM — something that many pointed out should have been done hours before it entered the country to give clear guidelines on how Filipinos should prepare, and also as a way to show Filipinos everywhere that their leaders are with them at this time.

However, the briefing was a bit too late, and President Rodrigo Duterte was also not present, even through video call. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque moderated the meeting in Metro Manila, and stated that the President was, at the time, in his hometown in Davao, closely monitoring the situation. As Filipinos grew in frustration, the #NasaanAngPangulo tag trended nationwide throughout the day, waiting for the President.

This isn’t the first time the President merited a “hashtag” among his citizens to know about his prolonged absence. This year alone, in the wake of the Taal eruption, and the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, at the height of the community quarantine, the administration had to resort to posting photos as proof of life, some less convincing than the others. Even last year, after the midterm elections, a rallying cry was waged by citizens to know where the President is after he has not been seen since casting his vote in Davao City, amid multiple errors and problems befalling the Commission on Elections.

Now, days after disaster struck, with millions of Filipinos displaced around the country, and the Philippines’ most powerful leader has shown his face, “too little, too late”. Before a public address that came a day after the storm surge, Roque was quoted to say that he’s sure the President will address the public eventually, he just couldn’t say when. And when he did, the President addressed the concern and the “trending” tag by hitting back at his critics. He was quoted saying, “Kaya nga umuwi ako. Itong mga ugok naman sasabihin wala ako. I was just waiting for the typhoon to pass then lumipad ako. You know kung wala kayong patay, okay lang. Kaming mga may patay, kailangan umuwi doon sa amin. Ngayon, nandito na ako.“

On the morning of November 2, Monday, Roque was also quoted defending why the President was not present during the briefing. He stated “Linggo naman yun” (It’s a Sunday, anyway), which aggravated the country even more as it implies that he isn’t expected to work during this day, regardless if there’s a national calamity or not.

A big contributing factor to the ruinous aftermath of Rolly was the lack of information made available to the regions who will eventually be heavily impacted by it. As local network ABS-CBN was shut down by the government early this year, all of its regional stations were also closed down. This proved to be a big problem as many Filipinos were left out of the loop on national news and current events, most especially on safety guidelines against the storm and other crucial pieces of information.

With the sheer size of this particular super typhoon and the news on it being the world’s strongest typhoon this year, it’s understandable that many were deeply concerned for the Philippines at this time. On top of all the Filipinos desperately praying for the storm to finally pass, a few A-list Hollywood celebrities also shared their support and distress over the situation, including Mark Ruffalo and Russel Crowe:

People are even more concerned now as the COVID-19 virus has still not been contained, yet many families will be forced to live in close proximity with one another in cramped evacuation centers to escape the eye of the storm. As it is, it seems that Filipinos had to make the decision between staying home and practicing social distancing, and risk facing the storm alone, or stay with thousands of others in centers to be safe from nature, but be possibly exposed to a different, life-threatening enemy.

In times like these, it is all the more crucial that we have strong leaders capable of making solid plans to prepare beforehand, as well as a guiding voice when the calamity itself hits. With the threat of a virus on one hand, and an incredibly strong storm on the other, we need all the planning we can get to survive our current crises with minimal damage. Hopefully, a game plan on how we’ll recover at the wake of the typhoon will be fully laid out for everyone to know, programs to ease the environmental damage we create, and preventive measures to lessen the impact of another storm that has already entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility, Siony.