Answer:
Considering the frequency, range, and gravity of the natural disasters that visit our country every year, it is hard to imagine any other people that are as resilient (and as positive in disposition) as the Filipino nation. We are a nation that “eats” calamities for breakfast. We are used to them. They come, they leave a trail of death and destruction, but we rise the following day—ready to face the next one.
That said, it is important to ask: How much of this suffering is avoidable? What can be done to minimize the recurrent loss of lives and damage to infrastructure, facilities, and property that typically accompany these disasters?
Last Thursday’s Typhoon “Ulysses” is just the latest reminder of lessons that the natural environment seems to be “teaching” us with every passing event in its unceasing transformation. We are, it is hoped, becoming increasingly aware that these lessons are as much about how Nature behaves as they are about how we understand and respond to it.
