Quote Originally Posted by shelu View Post
one thing more, it is still a mystery to me why the president didnt heed with Mayor duterte of davao's suggestion na magdeclare ng state of national emergency.
i could understand why P-Noy resisted the suggestion to declare martial law; all that time akala ko nagdeclare na ng state of calamity/emergency, yun pala days after na tsaka nagdeclare. It puzzles me as well.

Not sure kung me effect yung pagkawala ng communication with the affected areas, especially the local government. But i think given even the initial reports, a state of calamity/emergency should have been declared within hours of Yolanda clearing the affected areas.

Though more importantly than the declaration of state of calamity/emergency is whether or not there was action taken immediately after...because if they were waiting for a state of calamity/emergency to be declared before they moved...

Not sure about the standing protocol for local governments during an impending typhoon(i.e. everybody knew it was coming), but i think it's been proven now that they should make themselves available before and after the calamity, and make sure communication lines are open. i think the inability to get in touch with the local government, police, etc. -- be it of their own faults or otherwise -- also added to the delays/confusion. Nobody knows the lay of the land better than them. You can send in all the rescue/relief workers, police, military, etc. but they'd just get lost in the city even under normal(non-disaster) conditions.