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This week, Metro Manila and large parts of Luzon found themselves submerged in water once again—roads impassable, schools closed, families displaced, and lives lost. The flooding, worsened by the lingering effects of the southwest monsoon and enhanced by a string of typhoons—Crising, Dante, and now Emong—has become a grim and familiar scene.
These calamities are not anymore isolated or temporary. As Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) Administrator Dr. Nathaniel Servando explained, climate change is causing global temperatures to rise, a trend that is also reflected in local temperature records. He explained that when the temperature of our oceans is high, it produces more water vapor, which fuels tropical cyclones to become more intense. “More water vapor means we will experience heavier rainfall when there is climate change or global warming,” Dr. Servando said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is right to assert: “This is no longer unusual. This is the reality of our times,” he said, in calling for a shift in our mindset on disaster preparedness, to treat the country’s typhoon response system as “semi-permanent.”
These reminders must be taken seriously—not only by the government but also by the private sector and every Filipino household.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), more than 2.7 million Filipinos have been affected by recent weather disturbances, with over 40,000 families now staying in evacuation centers. Damage to infrastructure has already reached nearly ₱4 billion, and damage to agriculture has crossed the ₱366 million mark. These numbers will grow in the coming days as rains persist and another low-pressure area looms.
But these statistics don’t capture the full human toll—the trauma of flooded homes, the loss of livelihoods, and the risk of disease outbreaks in overcrowded evacuation centers, a concern the President has rightly raised. Nor do they reflect the frustration of workers stranded in traffic for hours, or small businesses forced to halt operations.
What, then, must we do?
First, we need a shift in the way we approach disaster preparedness. The government, through the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), has done well to issue advisories and coordinate evacuations, but they cannot do this alone. Private sector firms—especially those in flood-prone urban areas—must establish or update their disaster contingency plans. Are your employees trained for emergency scenarios? Are your facilities and supply chains resilient to extreme weather?
Households, too, must embrace readiness as a way of life. Every family should know their barangay’s evacuation plan. Are your emergency kits – or go-bags – ready and stocked with food, water, essential medicines, and supplies? Do you have a reliable source of information for weather updates?
Second, we must invest in long-term adaptation measures. Climate change has fundamentally altered our weather patterns. We need smarter urban planning, stronger flood control infrastructure, and housing solutions that keep people out of danger zones. The “build-back-better” approach must go beyond reconstruction—it must mean redesigning communities for resilience.
Finally, coordination is key. Real cooperation between national agencies, local government units, businesses, civil society, and citizens is what will save lives. And this cooperation must be constant, not just during typhoon season.
With the climate crisis showing no signs of slowing down, we must stop treating disaster preparedness as a reaction and start living it as a daily necessity.
The rains will return. Both the intensity of tropical cyclones and the amount of rainfall they bring are expected to increase with climate change and global warming, PAGASA said citing studies.
We should be ready next time.
