Philippines: Participatory planning on disaster preparedness
By Roi Lomotan
Dumaguete City -- The celebration of the National Disaster Consciousness month in Negros Oriental called for participatory planning on disaster preparedness measures, involving local chief executives and residents, in the province.
“There is no other way to plan (for disaster) than participatory planning,” said Provincial Planning and Development Officer Jocelyn Gongob.
In participatory planning, the residents and the municipal leaders must work together in crafting their own disaster risk reduction management plan (DRRMP).
Provincial Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) Executive Director Adrian Sedillo said the DRRMP should be based on risks or dangers posed by natural disasters identified by the barangay residents in their area.
Sedillo also added that the four essential components of a DRRMP are mitigation, response, preparedness and rehabilitation.
“We will only be prepared if the communities up to the local government units would start preparing for disasters,” said Angelo Tiongson of the PDRRMC.
Aside from having their own DRRMP, PDRRMC also urges municipal and city government units in the Province to designate a Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer (DRRMO) as part of their disaster preparedness measure.
To recall, Negros Oriental have experienced three natural disasters in the last two years.
Most recent was typhoon Pablo which had minimal number of casualties, while on February last year, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake rocked the province resulting to over 50 deaths.
In 2011, typhoon Sendong stormed the province and left 41 people killed.
As of now, the provincial government had crafted a DRRMP in response to disasters and calamities.
Meanwhile, the provincial, city and municipal chief executives will attend to a Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Summit on July 31-August 2, 2013 at the Cebu International Convention Center.
The summit aims to orient the officials on the national DRRMP and to inform them on the standard template of the plan.
The standard template will be adopted by the city/municipal governments here upon crafting their own DRRMP.
It will also be considered when the provincial government revisits their disaster management plan.
On the other hand, Sedillo appeals to everyone to make the celebration of National Disaster Consciousness Month a habit to become fully prepared in times of calamities and disasters.
“Let us make the observance of the National Disaster Consciousness Month a daily habit. Let’s take the advisories on disaster preparedness seriously,” Sedillo adds.
Sedillo, Gongob, Tiongson and Office of Civil Defense Negros Oriental Head Allen Cabaron were the guests speakers on a recent Kapihan Forum marking the celebration of National Disaster Consciousness Month this July which carries the theme “Ligtas na Bayan, maunlad na pamayanan.” (rmn/RAL/NEGOR)