All eyes were set on the Philippines when the strongest typhoon of the year hit the country on November 8, 2013. Typhoon Haiyan, locally known as typhoon Yolanda, took lives of more than 4000 people with thousands of people still missing and millions directly affected by the aftermath especially in Tacloban City, the capital of the Philippine province of Leyte in Eastern Visayas region.
Philippines is a country prominent to typhoons as it is located in the Pacific Ocean. However, the intensity of typhoon Yolanda was exceptionally strong that it literally swept away an entire city. The same tragedy happened to Tacloban in 1912, almost a hundred years ago where 15,000 people died.
Source: http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/11/19/1258482/1912-reports-tacloban-storm-killing-15000-resurface
According to the article, natural calamities often have momentous political repercussions that can either be positive or negative. Some situations can help solve conflicts between countries, but some cause disputes over the lack of resources. For example, a catastrophic tsunami in 2004 only sharpened hostility between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels, as they squabble over reconstruction. On a lighter note, the same tsunami helped end a long-running conflict in the Indonesian province of Aceh.
In the case of Philippines, the catastrophe wreaks political and diplomatic damage. The article stated that there had been criticisms in relation to the relief operations for its slowness, disorganization, and unfairness. Moreover, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino gave a low and inaccurate estimate of the death toll. He seemed to dodge the blame, suggesting critics of the relief operations should ask questions of the local government. Some blamed the bad blood between the Marcos’ and Aquino’s for holding up aids as a form of rivalry. Even weeks after the storm, aid had not reached some remote settlements that raised suspicions to people due to desperation.
News about the typhoon covered the whole media as several countries responded to Philippine’s aid. One of the countries who responded was China, who received some criticism for its $100,000 aid. It was lower compared to other countries. There are present disputes between Philippines and China over the shoals in the South China Sea. The reason why some people thinks that China had some hidden intentions. China denied and soon increased its offer of assistance.
There had been many unfair criticisms based on the article. First was President Aquino being under fire for seeming complacent as Haiyan’s intensity was unprecedented. Second, China giving only $100,000 as aid that seem to have hidden meaning. Third, ASEAN members being invisible where in fact, they had been very generous. Thailand, for example, donated 5,000 tons of rice. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have sent aircraft and other aid.
Upon reading this article, what piqued my interest was its title, “Banyan | Stormy weather”. First question that I thought, “What is Banyan?” Banyan is actually the name of the columnist for The Economist. It is also the name of a native tree in India. Google provided many answers for the word “banyan”. I saw an article in Wikipedia that one of the tropical storms in 2011 was also named “Banyan”. Sounds coincidental, but interesting.