Philippines: PDCC Kalinga approves disaster contingency plan
Tabuk, Kalinga (12 June) -- Bracing for the typhoon months, members of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) came up with a contingency plan on how to manage and reduce the risk of disaster to lives and properties.
In the planning workshop attended by an inter-agency council held at Davidson Hotel last week, mitigating measures to control damage on development during calamity were crafted.
Office of Civil Defense Regional Director Olive Luces, and chairperson of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council, Cordillera Administrative Region (RDCC-CAR) discussed the guidelines of contingency planning with emphasis on the lessons of past disaster response operations which have to be corrected in present plans. She hopes for the operationalization of the contingency plan for the province.
What is new in disaster planning is the shift in the approach from disaster response to disaster risk reduction. "The paradigm shift in disaster management is going proactive by taking action before calamity comes," she said.
Andrew Alex Uy, chief training officer of OCD-CAR presented the scenarios of which the need to plan ahead on calamity risk reduction should be a priority of local government units and the council.
He said there are four volcanoes in Kalinga all located in Pasil that are possible threats to the area. These are the Bumabag, Podakan, Ambalatuyan, and Binuluan volcanoes all found within the Batong-buhay mining complex.
Another formidable hazard is the Chico River that keeps on flooding the Tabuk agricultural lands and settlements during typhoons and heavy rains.
Meanwhile, Governor Floydelia Diasen committed to give the necessary support the province can afford to extend. (PIA-Kalinga)