The Philippines: The most dangerous land on the planet!

[jake]

Other lands are better at destruction with bombs and guns, but the Philippines occupies the most dangerous land.
Joe America (Gravatar)

Indeed, the Philippines does battle with God. And He can smite awesomely.

The Philippines ranks number one in the world for deaths caused by natural disasters. Last year, 2,360 people lost their lives in the Philippines due to natural disasters. China, in second place, was way back with 771. It was the same story in 2011.

This year is again proving to be on a similar scale of grief. You read the headlines as well as I do. We grow numb to the body count. It is so relentless.

Well, we understand that the Philippines is situated at the dead center of Typhoon Alley. It rests on the unstable “Ring of Fire” where volcanoes blast forth magma from the Earth’s core, and rides earthquake prone tectonic plates as they slip against one another. It’s the most dynamic location on the planet, bar none, positively terrifying if you think too much about it.

But does that not mean we should be taking special care in strewing flimsy bamboo shacks across the muddy slopes of hills and drainage channels?

[One of my blog's reader's] Jocelyn, asked me to examine why the Philippines is so vulnerable to natural disasters. It has turned into a fascinating project. Educational, for sure.

The short answer is that, as in many things, the Philippine response is short-term reactive rather than long-term pre-planned. The lengthier answer follows. But let me say the single most important answer is the attitude one takes, the approach, the organization, the effort, and the COMMITMENT made to fight this battle as if it were a battle.

This is civil defense. And we ought to use a military approach.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story...-on-the-planet

No 1 again!

[stevewool]

they have never been to London, try crossing any road , and they will realize that that is the most dangerous bit of land on the planet

[joebloggs]

they have never been to London, try crossing any road , and they will realize that that is the most dangerous bit of land on the planet

i would rather try and cross a road in London than Manila

[Michael Parnham]

We are lucky living in the UK, we don't have severe extremes like many other counties, also when we do have the occasional extreme we manage to get back to normal very quickly indeed!

[stevewool]

i never had that problem in Manila, i just grabbed hold of Ems arm and just followed her

[stevewool]

We are lucky living in the UK, we don't have severe extremes like many other counties, also when we do have the occasional extreme we manage to get back to normal very quickly indeed!

the trouble here everyone panics before it happens

[Terpe]

Thanks Jake for that link. I followed it and read the next 6 pages of the article which were very interesting.

It also led me onto other stuff from 'Joe America' ..... great reads
I bookmarked..

[robbie bobby]

He certainly is right about the whole thing in my opinion.It all boils down to money at the end of the day.Yes there is lots of things connected and yes people do need to be educated but it will never happen...well not in my lifetime anyways.unless the government can find extra funds to make a start on all the steps needed,there will be thousands more deaths that could have been avoided.Of course there is no way of predicting some of the disasters that happen but there is a lot they can do to make people aware and at least save some lives.People will always build there bamboo houses next to river banks as they have NO CHOICE.The land in the Philippines is getting more expensive by the day and I do believe the Philippine government could make things a bit better in the short term with a view to long term.There is so much theft and corruption by those who hold office..by those who were voted in by the people from the small barangay all the way to city and national level the people have not got a hope in hell of much changing.Its just "acceptable" that hundreds die from this earthquake or that flood.Makes me sick to my stomach and sad.I donate money to 3 or 4 different Filipino charitable organisations monthly and yearly and I know in my heart some of that money will not get to those who need it but even the smallest of hopes is better than no hope at all

[Michael Parnham]

the trouble here everyone panics before it happens

That's true Steve, when I was in Dumaguete you had no need to look when crossing roads, we just walked across and the traffic just drove round us!

[Ako Si Jamie]

We are lucky living in the UK, we don't have severe extremes like many other counties, also when we do have the occasional extreme we manage to get back to normal very quickly indeed!

This country comes to a halt when there's 2 foot of snow. Even Heathrow Airport gets closed.