MANILA, Philippines — It’s only been a month since the devastation caused by tropical storm Sendong in Northern Mindanao, and already the news of the tragedy has all but disappeared from the national discussion.

After the round-the-clock news coverage and massive outpouring of help for victims of the disaster, it seems like things are back to normal in this country—or at least in places outside Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, the two cities that bore the brunt of the flashfloods. Just a week after houses were wiped out, families that survived have returned to vulnerable areas along riverbanks to rebuild their lives and homes. Although heroic on the surface, this is considered worrisome by experts who predict similar cataclysmic events in the future. Poverty and desperation might explain this self-destructive instinct, but the lack of leadership, political will and creative solutions is also much to blame.

The disaster in Northern Mindanao happened only two few weeks after my visit to the quake- and tsunami-hit areas of Japan’s Northeastern Tohoku region that claimed up to 20,000 lives. Worst hit areas like Ishinomaki and coastal Sendai are years away from full recovery. The once thriving areas around the ports where commercial buildings, schools and residential neighborhoods stood are still deserted although many months have passed since the disaster of March 2011.

The difference

The Japanese have learned their lesson from nature and are rebuilding their coastal cities to make them less vulnerable to future tsunamis and the inevitable rise in sea levels due to global warming. Despite the urge to return to their homes and businesses (or what’s left of it), few are taking chances with nature and have instead agreed to wait it out in temporary housing facilities built by both government and non-profit organizations. Speaking to displaced residents, I sense their impatience but also their willingness to start fresh on a safer and more sustainable path. There are no mobs on the streets demanding a return to homes they paid for. Even the most frustrated citizens I spoke to are willing to wait for new zoning laws to be passed and new urban plans to be drawn. In the meantime, they wait in the makeshift shelters for what, according to local officials, could be years before life returns to normal.

The discipline exhibited by the Japanese after the March disaster is often traced to a history of enduring natural calamities and a devastating world war. Ingrained in the national character is an ability to organize themselves in times of trouble and seek solutions that serve the common good. Wa is a central value in Japanese culture, which roughly translates to harmony and unity.

Ingenuity also played a key role in the aftermath of the tsunami and earthquake. With few buildings left standing, tens of thousands had no choice but to crowd into evacuation centers no different from the schoolhouses and gymnasiums we see in the Philippines. Simple solutions like the installation of paper screens (like common shoji screens) to divide the area between families provide a semblance of private space—the lack of which is cited as the main reason why evacuees leave the shelters prematurely.

The Japanese architect Shigeru Ban is the world’s leading designer in shelters for refugees and his work in coastal Tohoku has made life more bearable for its citizens. Ban is known for transforming cheap and common materials like cardboard into sustainable living spaces. For the victims of the tsunami, Ban converted container vans stacked on top of each other into multi-story apartments with running water, electricity and heating installed. Smart solutions like cardboard furniture make the units quick to build and cost effective. The temporary apartments I visited were compact but comfortable, and with years to go before residents are allowed to rebuild their homes, they seem capable of providing dignified living conditions in the interim.

Poverty is often used as an excuse for our country’s vulnerability to natural disasters and the inability to respond appropriately, but the Japanese experience proves that even wealthy countries are just as helpless in the face of the destructive force of nature. The difference, as the people of Tohoku have shown, is not so much the amount of resources the government can mobilize, but the unity, self-sacrifice, discipline and ingenuity of its citizens.

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