TO strengthen their disaster resiliency, the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Cebu Province underwent a disaster risk reduction training in Bantayan Island.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 Director Asteria Caberte said that the event was the first business continuity planning for the MSMEs held in the province.
Through the collective effort of public and private partners, Caberte wants to make Bantayan safer and its businesses better protected against natural hazards.
She also said that DTI will work hand in hand with the local business community to find solutions that would help them respond, set recovery measures and maintain operations after a disaster strikes.
The three-day workshop, which was held last Sept. 28 to 30, was organized by the Asia-Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (A-Pad), in cooperation with the DTI and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
A-Pad is a trans-national disaster aid alliance that works to facilitate cooperation and understanding among governments, private sectors, and socio-civic groups in the Asia-Pacific region.
It was organized and launched in the Philippines in March this year to promote and enhance cooperation among local government units, private sectors and civil society organizations with the aim of building disaster resilient communities.
A-Pad national project staff Kim Leduna said disaster risk reduction management orientation is one of the required knowledge in business continuity planning.
It seeks to identify risks within an area every time hazards would strike as well as strengthen the MSMEs disaster resiliency and the communities where they are located.
The workshop was participated in by 30 MSMEs in Bantayan and other municipalities in northern Cebu.
Outputs from the workshop include business continuity planning road maps for MSMEs, where they identified their business’ critical service and product, and their business continuity strategies during disasters.
These road maps will be polished further into a concrete plan.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III welcomed the training conducted by A-Pad.
“The Cebu Provincial Government through the Provincial Disaster Risk Management Office has been intensifying its efforts to achieve zero casualty through various disaster risk reduction trainings that have been conducted in the different local government units,” he said.
A-Pad will be conducting disaster risk reduction orientation and business continuity planning workshop in other areas of the Visayas region soon.