Monday, September 10, 2007 LGUs cautioned to be on guard vs unusual heavy downpour By Jane Cadalig
THE Department of National Defense advised local chief executives in the region to be on guard in the last three months of the year, saying the change in the country's weather pattern should not be taken for granted.
"We should not be complacent about the change in the weather pattern," DND Secretary Teodoro Gilberto Jr. said, particularly referring to the weather bureau's prediction that the country would experience unusual heavy downpour in the next three months.
Gilberto spoke before mayors and governors from the Cordillera and North Luzon localities during the disaster management conference for local chief executives in Baguio recently.
Saying the local government units are the frontliners during disasters, Gilberto stressed localities need to strengthen their capacities to respond to calamities.
"There is a need for us to plan and prepare for any eventuality. We need to plan quickly in the coming days, (due to) warnings of greater typhoons," he said.
And as the government focuses much of its resources to the military operations in the south, the DND secretary relied on the capacity of local officials and other agencies in Northern Luzon to maintain peace and order.
"It will help us (government) greatly if the peace and order situation in Luzon is stable, so we could concentrate more in the south and win our battle against terrorism," he said.
