This is only the start: the winds will get stronger

Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez is also said to have reached a detente of sorts with the national government. It is reported that in a meeting brokered by President Aquino himself, Romualdez and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas agreed to set aside their differences and to work more closely to speed up the city’s rehabilitation. This arrangement should have been made way before Yolanda (“Haiyan” outside the Philippines) hit, so as to prevent the communication breakdown that led to the Aquino administration’s first faltering response to the storm’s devastation.

But better late than never. That new pledge of better cooperation will be tested once the reconstruction of Tacloban begins in earnest. If the government has learned anything from the public-relations disaster, then it should be this: it cannot lead from behind, especially in the crucial first hours when the nation expects immediate and effective action.

As with the storm’s aftermath, so with the reconstruction. Even as relief operations continue for more than a million people who must be fed and tended to, the rehabilitation of Leyte and other affected provinces must also become a priority for the government. And not just the haphazard, slapdash rebuilding that’s often been done in the past, but one that takes into account the grim reality that Yolanda brought.

Seaside cities and towns that lie in the path of typhoons barrelling in from the Pacific must now decide whether they want to rebuild in their old locations and risk another cataclysmic storm. Scientists are warning that Yolanda is part of a pattern of ever more destructive natural calamities – the result of climate change disrupting weather patterns.

The Aquino administration cited the game-changing character of Yolanda – the strongest storm ever to make landfall, swamping whatever preparations the local and national governments had put in place – in its plea for understanding over a disorganised, deer-in-the-headlights first response. But now that they have an idea of what’s at stake, government planners and policymakers must henceforth insist that post-calamity rehabilitation take into account the fearsome new meteorological conditions we face.

For instance, typhoon-vulnerable provinces will have to build better evacuation centres – sturdier and far enough inland to escape the reach of storm surges. If they have learned their lessons, local authorities will ensure that new infrastructure strictly adheres to building codes and zonal regulations. No more substandard stuff – generally the result of rigged contracts and kickbacks. The jumbled, pell-mell reconstruction of battered areas will only result in more of the same: a dense population crammed into a poorly planned habitat, immensely complicating the task of, say, mass evacuation in the face of yet another mighty typhoon.

The government need not do it alone. The altruistic spirit displayed by the private sector in Yolanda’s wake should be channelled into private-public partnerships that can help speed up the task of rebuilding. More importantly, the government working hand in hand with local businesses should result in jobs generated for the survivors of the calamity. As they begin to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives, these survivors will need much more than food packages to reclaim their dignity. They need help not only to bury and mourn their dead and feed and clothe their children, but also, in time, to rebuild their homes and find meaningful work that will allow them to free themselves from dependency and begin living productive, self-sufficient lives again.

Yolanda’s unprecedented devastation brings with it the opportunity to start again – and to start right this time. Memo to Malacanang: Dropping the ball is not an option.