The Philippine government is a representative democracy. It has three co-equal branches of government namely the executive, legislative, and judicial, operating on the principle of check and balance. Issues that had ...The Philippine government is a representative democracy. It has three co-equal branches of government namely the executive, legislative, and judicial, operating on the principle of check and balance. Issues that had riddled top officials of government remained unresolved hitherto; and, the local government units had their own lingering issues. The government structure therefore did not seem to have the mechanism to correct itself. This paper argues that responses to, as well as the ensuing conditions of the survivors of natural disasters, are affected by how much trust the incumbents of relevant government structures have of each other and that actors outside of the government hierarchy can offer avenues for reform. Tropical Storm Washi that hit Cagayan de Oro City could be a case in point. It left thousands of people dead or missing, millions of dollars in damages, and thousands of internally displaced persons （IDPs）. The local government, tasked by the local government code to handle matters related to social welfare, did not seem to have performed as expected. In an apparent lack of trust, donor agencies preferred to course cash and relief items through conduits others than the local government. While the system remained unable to correct itself, the victims of the disaster continued to suffer. Civil society organizations and non-government organizations were trying to re-establish people’s trust in the system through legal measures, and hope that electoral reforms could be instituted.展开更多
文摘The Philippine government is a representative democracy. It has three co-equal branches of government namely the executive, legislative, and judicial, operating on the principle of check and balance. Issues that had riddled top officials of government remained unresolved hitherto; and, the local government units had their own lingering issues. The government structure therefore did not seem to have the mechanism to correct itself. This paper argues that responses to, as well as the ensuing conditions of the survivors of natural disasters, are affected by how much trust the incumbents of relevant government structures have of each other and that actors outside of the government hierarchy can offer avenues for reform. Tropical Storm Washi that hit Cagayan de Oro City could be a case in point. It left thousands of people dead or missing, millions of dollars in damages, and thousands of internally displaced persons （IDPs）. The local government, tasked by the local government code to handle matters related to social welfare, did not seem to have performed as expected. In an apparent lack of trust, donor agencies preferred to course cash and relief items through conduits others than the local government. While the system remained unable to correct itself, the victims of the disaster continued to suffer. Civil society organizations and non-government organizations were trying to re-establish people’s trust in the system through legal measures, and hope that electoral reforms could be instituted.
