Funny face of disaster risk reduction

For someone who has probably one of the grimmest jobs in government, disaster management chief Benito Ramos is a funnyman who uses gags and jokes to lighten his work or disarm the humor-deficient.

At a press briefing Friday, a reporter jokingly asked the executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC): “Do you think you’re one of the three officials who has been giving President Aquino headaches?”

Always quick on the draw, Ramos shot back: “Probably, because every time we meet, I bring him disaster.”

(Mr. Aquino said the other day he never looks forward to meeting with three unnamed Cabinet members because they always bring him bad news.)

Excellent rapport

It is this quick wit and humor that has made the 60-year-old retired Army major general a darling of the press.

Ramos has developed such an excellent rapport with the people he works with, including journalists, that jokes are standard conversation starters with him.

Once, when the dusky Ramos did a live television interview, he asked for a white backdrop, “so I can be seen on camera.”

When science undersecretary Graciano Yumul, the acting chief of the weather bureau, greeted him with, “So, what are we here for?”, Ramos quipped: “I just wanted to see you.”

According to Ramos, the son of a corn farmer and a housewife from Isabela province, he is just a naturally happy person. “This is my real personality. I am the type who can deal with anyone,” he said in Filipino.

In his line of work, he said it was particularly important to have a good working relationship with the media.

“If I don’t befriend them, who will believe me? How will I convince the DND (Department of National Defense) to send me an airplane to drop off food from the DSWD (Department of Social Work and Development)?” he said.

At an interagency conference Friday on developments of Tropical Storm “Falcon,” he reminded officials of the necessity of reaching the public through the media: “If the media don’t know about what you did, it’s as though you did nothing.”

Media favorite

Ramos’ immediate boss, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, has described the NDRRMC chair as a “media favorite.”

Reporters covering the NDRRMC have found Ramos’ plain talk, easygoing manner and unfailing accessibility in times of typhoons and other disasters a refreshing change.

Under Ramos, the NDRRMC Operations Center is no longer off limits for media briefings, during which he invariably cracks up reporters with his deadpan humor.

When the NDRRMC website was hacked last August, he said that should he catch the culprit. “I will violate human rights.”

The culprit was never caught and a few days later, Ramos told reporters that his comment, made half in jest, earned him a reprimand.

When several fishermen were reported missing during a typhoon, Ramos said from the point of view of search planes, the fishermen are “like tiny bubbles” at sea.

Frustrated that some fishermen still go out to sea in bad weather, Ramos said they could find temporary jobs during such times. “Find a sideline as a porter,” he suggested.

Ramos said Tropical Storm “Egay” did some good to the parched farmlands in his native Cagayan Valley. He happily pointed out that Egay watered his cornfields in Tumauini.

He described Tropical Storm “Falcon” as exhibiting “good behavior” because it did not directly hit Central Luzon and Metro Manila.

Not of the PMA

Ramos fought in Mindanao in the 1970s, where he spent 22 of his active years. He said he was “not of the PMA [Philippine Military Academy], just a humble reserve officer.”

A political science graduate of Saint Ferdinand College in Ilagan, he had planned on going on to law studies. “But I couldn’t continue when my father passed away,” he said.

He became a high school teacher, teaching social science at the Tumauini Academy in Isabela. But he said he did not enjoy the job.

“I wanted action. Back then, there was already an outbreak of hostilities in Mindanao. I wanted to join the fighting,” said Ramos.

He bears the scars from bullet wounds in his right biceps and near the hips. “I was just lucky I didn’t get hit in vital areas,” he said.

It was in Mindanao where he met and married his wife Rosemarie, who is from Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao. They have two grown sons, both named Benito. The family lives in Cagayan Valley.

Friend of Gazmin

Ramos said he became friends with Gazmin while serving in the Army.

“He was 1st Lieutenant, I was 2nd Lieutenant. We spent a long time together. I don’t know why he took me, but when he asked, ‘Help me out,’ I joined him,” he said.

Ramos, whose last deployment was as commander of the Army’s special operations command, saw the most intense fighting that claimed the lives of some of his close friends.

But the harsh experiences did not dampen his natural “positiveness,” he said.

“You need to have positive thinking even through the worst conditions. You have to entertain yourself. That’s where EQ, or emotional quotient, comes in,” he said.

But he acknowledged that there are occasions when joking is inappropriate, given the nature of his work. Reports of storms, landslides and other disasters are no joking matter with him. “I get affected. I get sad,” he said.

He said he was happy that there has been so far, “zero casualties” because of Falcon.

“I can sleep well tonight,” he said.