Aquino asked to prioritize disaster preparedness

NON-GOVERNMENT group Citizens' Disaster Response Center (CDRC) asked President Benigno Aquino III to prioritize disaster preparedness in his first 100 days in office.

"Let's not wait for the next disaster to hit the Philippines before we reinforce our systems," Lourdes Louella Escandor, CDRC executive director, said during a gathering on Disaster Risk Reduction attended by its network partners including contingents from rescue groups in Baguio City.

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Escandor said early preparation is the best solution to natural calamities.

Last year, the Philippines topped the list of countries most frequently hit by natural disasters, as revealed by the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) being maintained by the Belgium-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (Cred).

In the Cordillera region alone, data from the Office of Civil Defense revealed that more than a billion pesos of properties were destroyed by Typhoon Pepeng that hit the region in October 2009.

Cred also ranked the Philippines a close second to China in the top 10 list of countries most affected by natural disasters in 2009 with 13.6 million people affected.

Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, two of the most devastating typhoons in the country's history, happened late last year.

Escandor also urged the new administration to fully implement the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 or Republic Act 10121 which was signed into law by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last May 27 before she stepped down from office.

Under this law, the National Disaster Coordinating Council will be replaced with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

A Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office will also be established in every province, city and municipality.

Furthermore, a Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management committee in every barangay will also be created which will be responsible for setting the direction, development, implementation and coordination of disaster risk management programs within their territorial jurisdiction.

Also, under the new law, the Calamity Fund, renamed as the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMF), can now be used for disaster risk reduction or mitigation, prevention and preparedness activities. Before this law was passed, the Calamity Fund can only be tapped during emergencies.

Escandor said the challenge to the new administration is to ensure that this law is fully implemented down to the barangay level.

She added that CDRC, together with its Regional Centers all over the Philippines, have pledged to continue its mission to prepare and equip ordinary people in the communities with knowledge and skills on what to do before, during and after calamities.

She said it is within CDRC's core program, which is being funded by one of the biggest welfare institutions in Germany, Diakonisches Werk, to strengthen the capacity of the communities in dealing with disasters.

CDRC is a non-government organization that pioneered and continues to promote community-based disaster management in the Philippines.