FROM a daily newspaper today, I read that schools nationwide will simultaneously test how quickly they can respond, evacuate, and reunify students with their families amid an active human-induced threat, such as an active shooter, on August 25. The Department of Education is rolling out these safety drills following the recent school shootings in Tacloban and Zamboanga City.
The drills are necessary. Absolutely.
But I couldn’t help wondering — Why do we so often have to wait for something terrible to happen before we seriously prepare for it?
This seems to be a distinctly Filipino habit.
A tragedy happens, and suddenly we move. A school shooting happens, and we conduct drills. A flood kills people, and we talk about drainage. A building collapses, and we inspect other buildings. A fire destroys homes, and we remind people about fire safety. A bridge fails, and we start asking whether other bridges are safe. A disease spreads, and we scramble for supplies, protocols and public information.
We respond. We react. We investigate. We hold meetings. We issue memoranda. We create committees. And, eventually, when the news cycle moves on, we move on too.
There is nothing wrong with responding to a crisis. The problem is when response becomes our primary strategy.
Prevention rarely makes headlines.
Nobody applauds the disaster that never happened.
Nobody goes on television to announce that a school remained safe because someone quietly identified a security vulnerability six months earlier and fixed it.
Nobody celebrates a flood that never occurred because a drainage system was properly maintained.
Nobody notices the accident that never happened because a dangerous road was repaired before someone got hurt.
Prevention is invisible.
But it is often the most important work government—and society—can do.
We seem to have developed a culture of waiting for the smoke before looking for the fire.
And sometimes, we even need several fires before we finally decide that perhaps we should check the wiring.
The upcoming school safety drills are a good thing. Children, teachers and parents should know what to do when confronted with danger. But drills should not be where safety begins.
The harder questions should come before the disaster.
Are schools secure?
Are access points properly controlled?
Are threats taken seriously when they are first reported?
Do teachers and administrators know how to identify warning signs?
Are emergency protocols actually workable—or merely documents sitting in folders?
Are authorities communicating with schools before something happens rather than after?
These are not dramatic questions. They are simply responsible ones.
Perhaps this is the bigger lesson — being prepared is not the same as being reactive.
A reactive society asks, “What do we do now that it has happened?”
A proactive society asks, “What can we do so it doesn’t happen—or so that its consequences are minimized if it does?”
We need more of the second question.
Because disasters will always happen. Accidents will happen. Threats will emerge. Human beings will make mistakes.
We cannot prevent everything.
But surely we can prevent some things.
And we can certainly prevent ourselves from being caught completely unprepared.
So let the drills happen. Let our schools practice evacuating, accounting for students and reuniting families.
But when the drill is over, let us not congratulate ourselves too quickly.
The real test is not how quickly we respond after disaster strikes.
The real test is how seriously we work before it does.
Because the best emergency response is often the one we never have to use.
As cliche goes, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.
And the Bible says in Proverbs 22:3 — “The shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself, but the inexperienced keep right on going and suffer the consequences.”
