Philippines: Gov commends Sorsogon's disaster risk reduction programme

Sorsogon City - The onslaught of torrential rains that battered the province of Sorsogon since late December 2010 to early January 2011 lasting for almost a month now, was a trying test to find out how well the disaster risk reduction program implementation in the province of Sorsogon was well-enforced and in-placed.

The La Nina Contingency Plan presented to the members of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) as early as October 2010, calling all action officers of each municipality to map out highly disaster prone areas, was an operationalized document presented that provided even the local chief executives awareness on disaster risk reduction (DRR) readiness.

While almost six municipalities suffered immense impact of flooding and landslides like Pilar, Juban, Casiguran, Magallanes, Bulan and Donsol, no report of casualty was observed.

“Let us be pro-active, be aware and practice our own individual judgment call and should not wait for others or agencies to instruct us to evacuate specially if your area is already exposed to danger,” Gov. Raul R. Lee, PDRRMC chair stated.

“We can humbly say that while Sorsogon has been highly affected by the first salvo of the La Nina, no casualty on our end was reported,” Lee further stressed.

“Our local chief executives in the province are now well empowered and trained including all departments in implementing the DRR programs, hopefully this time the people in Sorsogon will always be aware to practice preemptive actions,” Gov. Lee concludes. (PIA Sorsogon)