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World's 4th Most Accident-Prone Country
According to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,
the Philippines was the fourth most accident prone country in the world.
The two institutions arrived at this conclusion after finding out that
some 5,809,986 Filipinos were killed or injured as a result of disasters
or man-made calamities over a ten-year period (1992-2001).
If not for its smaller population, the Philippines
could have been the world's second most accident-prone country after
Iran. Because of its large population, China topped the accident list,
with 97,783,301 of its citizens affected by accidents during the ten-year
period. It was followed by India, which reported 46,060,125 victims
during the period. Both China and India have a population of over 1
billion people. Iran was third in the list, with 6,416,570 victims.
Behind the Philippines were Ethiopia, with 3,334,266 victims; and Pakistan,
2,732,032 victims. The global report by International Red Cross said
535,416 people were killed in natural disasters and 86,947 others in
industrial, transport and other "technological disasters" worldwide
from 1992 to 2001.
According to the Philippine Red Cross, 31,835 Filipinos
were killed and 94,369,462 others were affected by natural disasters
and calamities in a span of 20 years. "The Philippines was a natural
laboratory for floods, typhoons, monsoon rains, earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, and landslides," Philippine National Red Cross governor Dante
Liban said. (Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)
313 Disaster Incidents in 2002
Data from the Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information
Center (DROMIC) showed that there were 313 disaster incidents in the
country in 2002, up from only 199 incidents in 2001. In particular,
there were 120 fire incidents that affected 15,430 households in 2002,
63 deportation or relocation incidents, 22 armed conflicts that distressed
8,891 families, 22 bombing incidents or explosions, 22 flashfloods that
affected 234,414 households, and 7 destructive typhoons that distressed
568,345 families. Other types of disasters that happened in 2002 were
vehicular accidents, sea mishap, tornado, massacre, plane crash, and
earthquakes.
Worst Disaster in History
On July 12, 2000, the Philippines witnessed one of the world's most
horrifying images of social tragedy in history. Nearly 500 garbage scavengers
who were living literally at the Payatas dumpsite in Quezon City were
buried alive under tons of garbage when a 50-foot garbage mountain collapsed
on their makeshift houses at the height of torrential rains. It
was a tragic commentary on poverty in the Philippines, yet the lesson
remains to be learned to this day.
Worst Sea Accidents
In December 1987, some 4,341 people died when Dona Paz, an inter-island
passenger ferry owned by Sulpicio Lines collided with an oil tanker
off Mindoro Island. Sadly it was not to be the last sea tragedy in the
Philippines, an archipelago of 7,107 islands. In 1988, around
250 people died when Dona Marilyn, another passenger ferry owned by
Sulpicio Lines, sank. On April 11, 2002, at least 30 people were killed
when MV Maria Carmella, which was bound from the island-province of
Masbate for Lucena City in Quezon province, caught fire.
Among the most frequently mentioned causes of the
sea accidents were overloading of the ship, ageing facilities, badly
trained crewmembers, and poor compliance by the vessels with safety
precautions and measures. While the Philippines has over 7,100 islands
and 10,000 ships or boats, the Philippine Coastguard has only 4,000
men.
Worst Air Accidents
On April 19, 2000, some 131 people were killed when a commercial airplane
from Manila crashed in Samal Island, Davao del Norte province (southern
Mindanao). All the passengers and crew, including four infants, of Air
Philippines Boeing 737-200 (Flight 541 from Manila) died in what is
now considered the worst air tragedy in the Philippines.
A local commercial flight bound for northern Luzon crashed into Manila
Bay seven minutes after takeoff in the morning of November 11, 2002,
leaving 19 people including six foreign tourists dead. Ten people survived.
The ill-fated airplane - an ageing Fokker 27 - was bound from Manila
for Laoag City in northern Luzon, with 29 passengers and crewmembers
on board, when it encountered an engine trouble and crashed one kilometer
off the Manila Bay shoreline in Paranaque City. The dead victims include
five Australian tourists and a British national. Among the 10 survivors
was an Australian tourist. The two Filipino captains of the airplane
also survived, along with a flight stewardess and a plane mechanic.
On July 2, 2000, an Air Force Nomad plane crashed somewhere in Sulu
Sea, killing its 13 crewmembers and passengers, including the late Palawan
Governor Salvador Socrates and Western Command chief Maj. Gen. Santiago
Madrid.
On March 17, 1957, President Ramon Magsaysay died in an airplane crash
in Mount Manunggal, Cebu province.
Worst Terrorist Attacks
No one thought that banditry still exists in the modern era. In April
1995, the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf (Bearers of the Sword) group raided
the Christian town of Ipil in Zamboanga del Norte province and burned
all its houses and establishments. The group also shot dead at least
54 residents of the town. The worst terrorist attack in Metro Manila
took place on December 30, 2000, which was a holiday (Rizal Day). A
series of bombings rocked the metropolis on that day. The worst explosion
happened inside a train of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) in Manila where
22 passengers were killed and hundreds more were wounded.
Before this, an explosion nearly killed Philippine
Ambassador Leonides Caday in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 1, 2000. Police
claimed that an Indonesian national in their custody has admitted responsibility
for the bombings in Manila and Jakarta. In March, 2002, a group which
identified itself as the Indigenous Federal State Army planted at least
10 hoax bombs around Metro Manila purportedly to demand the establishment
of separate governments for Muslim and indigenous people. Investigators,
however, denied that such a group exists and blamed the bomb scare to
existing rebel groups.
On April 21, 2002, 15 innocent civilians were killed
while 60 others were injured when a bomb exploded outside a shopping
mall in General Santos City (southern Mindanao). The Abu Sayyaf quickly
claimed responsibility over the bombing, although the military was convinced
that a larger Muslim rebel group could be involved. On October
19, a bomb exploded aboard a public bus, killing three passengers and
wounding 19 others in Balintawak, Quezon City. A fragmentation grenade
also exploded in Makati City but injured no one on October 17.
On October 17, two of the seven bombs planted around
Zamboanga City (western Mindanao) exploded, leaving seven people dead
and 144 others injured. On October 10, a bomb, which was allegedly planted
by an extortion group, exploded inside a bus terminal in Kidapawan City
(central Mindanao), leaving 8 people dead and 25 others injured. On
the night of October 2, a bomb, allegedly planted by Muslim extremist
Abu Sayyaf group, exploded in front of a karaoke bar in Zamboanga City
(western Mindanao), killing an American soldier and two Filipinos and
wounding 19 others, including another American soldier.
September 11 Attacks
What is considered as the world's terrorist attack was the September
11 airplane assault on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in
New York in 2001. About 3,000 people were believed killed in the incident
that brought all the floors of the two buildings to the ground.
Reports said there were at least 500 Filipinos or Filipino-Americans
working at the World Trade Center. There were 80,000 Filipinos living
in New York City and another 50,000 in Washington D.C.
Worst Fires
On March 18, 1996 a fire at Ozone disco along Timog Avenue in Quezon
City left 150 people dead and 90 others seriously injured. Around 350
young Filipinos were inside the bar when the fire struck. It was considered
the worst nightclub fire since a blaze killed 164 people in Southgate,
Kentucky in 1977. On August 18, 2001, a fire gutted Manor Hotel
in Quezon City, killing 75 guests and wounding 52 others. The victims,
mostly local members of the Dawn Flowers Ministry, a Texas-based Christian
evangelical group, were asleep when the fire struck. They were trapped
inside their rooms because the hotel's fire exit was blocked.
Worst Bus Accident
On November 24, 33 people died while six others were seriously injured
when a passenger bus plunged into a 30-foot ravine in Tagkawayan, Quezon
province (southern Luzon). The ill-fated Falcon Liner bus was bound
for Masbate province (Bicol region) when its driver reportedly lost
control of the wheel while negotiating a downhill portion of the Quirino
Highway. Most of the passengers were asleep when the accident happened
at 12:30 a.m. On November 26, a Victory Liner bus plunged into a 109-foot
ravine in Benguet province, killing two of its passengers.
Worst Volcanic Eruptions
In June, 1991, Mount Pinatubo in Zambales province had the century's
second largest volcanic eruption, as it unleashed some 15 million tons
of sulfur dioxide into the earth's atmosphere that resulted in slight
cooling of the earth's temperature. Thousands of people were believed
killed as a result of the eruption and the subsequent lahar flow, which
buried several villages in the provinces of Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales.
The eruption also forced American troops out of their bases in Clark,
Pampanga and Subic, Zambales. What is considered as the century's strongest
eruption is the eruption of Novarupta in Alaska, which released 9 cubic
miles of magma towards the earth's surface in June, 1912.
Worst Typhoons and Flashfloods
As a typhoon codenamed Thelma was passing the Philippines on November
5, 1991, a flashflood hit Ormoc City in Leyte province, killing at least
3,000 people and destroying the homes of 50,000 others. In September
1984, a typhoon codenamed Ike killed 1,300 persons while in 1995 typhoon
Angela killed 700 people. On August 3, 1999, heavy torrential rains
caused a landslide that killed 58 people and buried over 100 houses
at Cherry Hills Subsivision in Antipolo City. On November 9, 2001, a
typhoon locally named "Nanang" caused a flashflood that buried 350 residents
of Mahinog in the island-province of Camiguin. The highest death toll
during a weather disturbance was reported in Bangladesh when a strong
cyclone (typhoon) killed nearly 300,000 people in November 1970.
Worst Earthquakes
On July 16, 1990, an earthquake that registered 7.7 on the Richter
scale killed 1,700 people, injured 3,000 individuals and displaced 148,000
more in Luzon. Among the cities that sustained the worst damages were
Baguio, Dagupan and Cabanatuan. On August 17, 1976, an earthquake
caused a tidal wave or tsunami that killed about 8,000 people in Mindanao,
according to the Information Please Almanac. On August 2, 1968, an earthquake
caused the collapse of Ruby Tower buildings, leaving hundreds of people
trapped underneath the rubble. What is considered as the most damaging
earthquake in the 20th Century took place in Tianjin, China where 250,000
people were believed killed. The strongest earthquake, which registered
9.5 on the Richter scale, was reported in Chile on May 22, 1960.
Worst Festival Tragedy
On July 2, 1993, a pagoda carrying hundreds of Catholic devotees
during the annual pagoda festival in Bocaue, Bulacan sank into the muddy
Bocaue River. About 279 people, including children, drowned in the incident.
One victim, Sajid Bulig, died a hero after saving four children out
of the river.
Coastal Areas Sinking
According to the University of the Philippines' National Institute of
Geological Sciences, low coastal areas at the Manila Bay, such as Caloocan,
Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela and several towns in Bulacan, Pampanga
and Bataan have sunk one meter in the past 30 years or ten times than
the rate of the global sea level rise in the last century.
In their paper "Flooding in Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan and Camanava:
Causes, Trends and Possible Solutions", geologists blamed the fast rise
of water level at the Manila Bay to too much extraction of groundwater
by a growing population and economic activities. There are about 23
million people living around the Manila Bay, who experience flood during
the rainy season.
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