HOW does the City of Cagayan de Oro fare when it comes to disaster preparedness and crisis management? Do we have the necessary knowledge to mitigate the impact of any form of calamity, may it be natural or manmade, in order to preserve the lives and properties of Kayan-anons? What steps are being undertaken by the local government to disseminate information on the grassroots level of impending calamity that could hit our city?
Those who directly experienced the wrath of Typhoon Sendong back in 2011, which ravaged Cagayan de Oro City and claimed thousands of lives and millions in properties, would greatly understand the importance of seamless information gathering and effectively cascading these useful data to lessen the damaging cause of such disastrous event.
The advent of “climate change” has significantly alter the course of typhoon that hits our country. The Philippines averaged 19 typhoons all year round. And we are all become silent witness on how these typhoons progresses to be a life-changing disaster. Just recently, Typhoon Tisoy hits the Bicol and Southern Tagalog Regions that claimed at least 12 lives and more than 800 million worth of crop damage. No amount of preparation initiated by the local government can prevent the loss of life and properties without the use of effective and efficient communication that could reach the barangay-community level.
During the three-day seminar/workshop I attended in Manila the other week, one of the topics thoroughly discussed was the importance of Risk Reduction and Management of Disaster and Humanitarian Communication. Considering the element of time and wide-range of recipients involve, it was recommended that partnership between local government and different colleges and universities by incorporating humanitarian communication on crisis management and information dissemination in their curriculum. Experts from NDRRMC find it fitting that education is the key for effective and efficient communication of real-time useful information on the grounds. This will certainly help the local officials in spreading information during the times of natural calamities. Further, this recommendation was not limited to students but also include officials from the smallest unit of government, the barangays, in which direct coordination from City Disaster Risk Reduction Management officials are made.
Over the years, our city government has learned from catastrophe like Typhoon Sendong and has gradually improve its monitoring and information dissemination. If you are active in social media, one useful Facebook page you may want to consider subscribing to is CDRRMD – Oro Rescue page.
The path to disaster preparedness and crisis management lies on timely, effective and reliable information dissemination. This endeavor requires involvement of everyone and not just by the chosen few. The safety of Kagay-anons must always remain the priority of all. Let us get involve to improve situational awareness and dispel rumors. Responsible use of information, especially with social media as flatform, must provide helpful data rather than false/fake facts that causes confusion among Kagay-anons.
Manila, Manila, I’m going back to manila!
After more than 10 years I was back in Manila, and mind you, I was surprised by the tremendous transformation of the once neglected city. The streets are litter-free and well lighted at night. Sidewalks have been reclaimed and no longer occupied by vendors. Major landmarks such as Jones Bridge and National Museum were given major facelift. And these changes were only the beginning of the proposed long-term goals of the young local chief executive.
Salute to Yorme Isko Moreno for having the political will to instill discipline to his constituents amidst complaints from the minority. I hope our beloved Cagayan de Oro will mirror the best practices implemented by the city government of Manila in cleaning up the streets. Its never too late to start today!