Disaster reduction council bares 2012 programs

Sunday, February 12, 2012

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- To be adequately ready for the occurrence of any disaster, the Central Luzon Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) has set its programs and projects for 2012, which will enable the local government units to cope with emergencies.

For the first quarter of the year, the local government units with the assistance of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the RDRRMC-Central Luzon are expected to have made inventories of their resources, which include equipment, facilities and manpower; critical infrastructures in their areas; and hazard maps which determine vulnerable areas.

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OCD Regional Director Josefina Timoteo said that to learn from the best practices in the management of disasters, a review of the disaster records of the past five years will be made.

For the whole year, local government units will be supported by the OCD and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the formulation, evaluation, monitoring and the utilization of their Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (LDRRM) plans.

Most important of all, the RDRRMC-CL will pursue the organization of city, municipal and barangay disaster risk reduction and management committees who are in the frontline in disaster response.

These committees will undergo training on the use of software such as the Regional Disaster Assessment System to equip them with skills necessary in the performance of their functions.

Conduct of drills such as earthquake, tsunami, fire, flood evacuation, and exercises on water search and rescue, swift water/flood water rescue will be implemented in the second quarter.

The OCD, with the members of the RDRRMC-Central Luzon and local government units, will also conduct the early recovery and post disaster needs assessment and update themselves in the communication protocol in disaster reporting.