Granted that the humanitarian concerns are very great in the Philippines, but there are many other deep-seated problems that warrant attention. Here are two accounts provide a closer look a the tough problems in the Philippines:

• Philippines Typhoon Response Highlights Weak Infrastructure. Some excerpts:
  

  Under a reforming president, the Philippines emerged as a rising economic star in Asia but the trail of death and destruction left by Typhoon Haiyan has highlighted a key weakness: fragile and patchy infrastructure after decades of neglect and corruption.

Haiyan’s devastation, however, underlines the pressing need to spend more money to build hard assets such as more roads, ports and power lines — not only to improve living standards but also to better withstand the storms, earthquakes and other natural disasters that strike the country with numbing regularity.

 In the Philippines, natural disasters are common; ways to reduce they’re impact aren’t.  Geography and poverty are part of the problem.  Some other concerns:

Over the past decades, Filipinos have flocked to risky, low-lying areas, havens for cheap and crammed housing. Officials here say the Philippines must also improve emergency training for distant local governments, enforce building codes and make sure that money earmarked for infrastructure ends up helping those whose homes are the most vulnerable.

What the World Should Learn From Disasters Past.

“... that relief and reconstruction are two different things..”