culture

PR Disaster

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Any disaster is a potential public relations scoop for the leaders of a nation or a company or organization. What’s the difference between a natural hazard and a natural disaster? Just add human response to a natural hazard (or any adverse event) and you have the elements of a potential disaster.

A hazard could be small but if the human response is weak, then it becomes a major catastrophe. Think of the earthquake in Turkey, Haiti, China and Armenia that each killed tens of thousands, when substandard buildings collapsed and poor, uncoordinated rescue. Or a hazard could be cataclysmic but if the response is huge, then losses are mitigated, and it’s a PR scoop for years to come. It might even be a textbook case of the right thing to do.

Supertyphoon Haiyan (“Yolanda” in the Philippines) was the 7th strongest typhoon in recorded history and the strongest to hit landfall, according to Wall Street Journal. But the initial response from the Philippine government and President Noynoy Aquino (Pnoy) was so weak it was not even felt. Then it got worse. Te President’s lack of commanding presence in the face of uncertainty and his lack of empathy for a devastated city and its officials, further heightened the suspicion that there was no after-disaster rescue or relief plan at all, despite his claims the day before the typhoon struck.

The first 36 hours after any disaster is a battle for the people’s minds. Leaders must project that it is in control of the situation, that it projects safety and consolation, that it knows what it will do in a sustained and systematic way. Historically, It’s a good battle between the government and the media, which always wants to see the chinks in the armor of Pnoy.

And in this age of quick viral spread of any information, the media drew first blood.

This entry was posted in culture, politics.

The dark side of the Bayanihan spirit?

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Shortly after supertyphoon Haiyan (Yolanda in the Philippines) barrelled through the entire Visayas region of the Philippines, frantic calls for donations were already made over traditional and new media. Netizens promptly responded and multiplied the announcements for emergency relief goods. With help from new media, relief operations and donations were like little streams that converged into a mighty river, led by schools, companies, even parishes and OFW communities abroad, and individuals.

However, together with the explosion of the Bayanihan spirit (or the spirit of a community helping one another) Filipinos are known for, criticism over the government’s slow response likewise surged like the waters that engulfed Tacloban City and towns of Samar and Iloilo Province. This time, the surge is against the President and his entire disaster response team led by Interior Sec. Mar Roxas, Defense Sec. Voltaire Gazmin, Social Welfare Sec. Dinky Soliman, and NDRMMC Chair Eduardo Austria. As hours turned into days it became woefully apparent that there was very little, if at all, a ‘rescue and relief’ plan.

But supporters of the beleaguered President countered “Hoy tumulong ka na lang, wag ka nang magreklamo.” (Don’t complain or criticize, just help.) One multiawarded film director blew his top and wrote a rant against the President that went viral over social networks. He said, quite succinctly, that helping and criticizing are not mutually exclusive. And I would add, criticism is a form of helping, sometimes it’s even the best help. Because how can we improve ourselves, how can we correct our mistakes if no one points them out to us? And how can we help improve the system of doing things if we don’t speak? Will we always remain silent in the face of negligence and mismanagement? Are we living in Stalinist Russia or Maoist China?

Criticism is needed, because

1) It is a hallmark of democracy. The Philippines is no longer in an authoritarian regime. We see things, we can talk. We have to.

2) I pay my taxes. I have a stake in how the country is run. If I see my leaders not doing their job, or they do it wrongly, then in it’s my duty to tell them.

3) It is the responsibility of every Filipino to leave a better society for future generation.

Bayanihan is needed, definitely. But we cannot use it to cover ineptitude and stupidity of a popular government.  

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