A tale of two relocations

The good news is that vulnerable families in Tudela town in Camotes, northern Cebu are moving farther from the coastline to avoid surges that any future storm will carry.

The bad news is that residents in a landslide-prone area of barangay Buhisan, Cebu City are digging in although the government recommended that they move elsewhere for safety’s sake.

Councilor Dave Tumulak, city disaster czar and barangay captain Gremar Barete need to learn a thing or two from the book of Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III.

The Capitol’s rehabilitation team went beyond talking to Tudela’s coastal residents—something that Barete, armed with maps showing cracks in the earth, did with his constituents—and contributed resources to provide them with suitable relocations.

Residents of sitio Sandayong in Buhisan were only told to transfer to a gymnasium or take up residence with their kin.

We understand that it is hard for the 40 Buhisan families to leave their homes at a moment’s notice, with no guarantee of remuneration for lost homes or a suitable place to go to.

In contrast, the 120 families from Tudela are sure to get houses and lots from the provincial government that is giving the town at least P1.5 million for rehabilitation.

A private firm is also donating iron sheets for the roofs of the new homes.

Will the Cebu city government and golden-hearted members of the private sector help move vulnerable residents out of harm’s way?

Tudela residents, moving farther inland are now for all intents and purposes a model of how to rebuild.

People should not be made to start over where they are likely to be swallowed by the earth or pummeled by winds and waves again.

Communities of faith play a crucial role in protecting their members.

It would be a misapplication of faith for anyone to expect an out-of-this-world miracle to be saved from a landslide, as some Buhisan residents now expect.

Fr. Ramon Ofredo, in a homily last Saturday, implied that proper disaster preparedness is a subset of spiritual readiness.

That is a message anyone who wishes to risk life for the sake of property needs to hear and heed.

Whether we like it or not, we are under the constant threat of rising seas and collapsing hills. Making sure we are not sandwiched by calamities is the first order of the day.