The Philippines is now facing one of its most vulnerable times. With the recent events in Visayas, we saw how many Filipinos no longer trust the government.

On social media, everyone can now voice out their opinions. It was not long after the typhoon that people began posting their own opinions about the government’s relief efforts—or lack thereof.

Anyone can write and post with no filter or validation to their claims, thus there are many posts that contain nothing but false statements about the government’s operations and actions with the relief efforts.

Although there were claims of corruption that were in fact true, there were many others that were unfounded. The problem is that people are quick to believe what they see online and they share posts without checking for if they are indeed factual.

People easily rush to the conclusion that the government is not doing anything. One post even mentioned that the government brought suffering to the people, as if the government were the reason for the devastation.

One of the main complaints was that the relief efforts of the Philippines were not at par with those of other countries. People compared the response and relief to those of the United States for Hurricane Katrina and to Japan for their massive tsunami. The problem with Typhoon Yolanda, however, is that its sheer massiveness simply could not be compared to disasters faced by other countries.

People kept on sharing and posting their comparison between two wealthy countries and our Third World nation. Because the level of the storm was incomparable, calling into question the capabilities and limitations of the Philippine government was unfair as well.

The situation with Yolanda is extremely complicated. It hit a region composed of a group of islands. Sea ports and airports were destroyed and major roads were blocked, causing a major obstruction to the response and relief efforts.

Communication was cut off. Local government units (LGUs) were also incapacitated because many local officials and servants who survived found themselves homeless or losing loved ones, Because of that, LGUs, which are supposed to make the first move in times of locally situated crises, were paralyzed. The Philippine government and military has limited resources, and they were unable to give aid immediately.

Trust is something that the government needs in order to work. It’s hard for a government to operate when the very same people that elected these officials don’t trust them.

I do believe that there were better ways for the government to have handled the situation of Typoon Yolanda, but I also think they did the best they could. There are some government officials who may be corrupt, but that does not necessarily mean that the entire government was not acting on the situation, or that the government is the one causing the people’s suffering.

Visayas is now starting its plans to rehabilitate the region. This is going to be an extremely difficult task for the government, and there is a need for us citizens to realize that the rebuilding period is the perfect time to work hand and hand with the government. Now more than ever, the people must trust the government.