THE 21st Sangguniang Panlungsod on Tuesday approved on third and final reading two measures that will help Dabawenyos prepare for disasters.
One of these is the ordinance adopting and institutionalizing the climate and disaster risk assessment (CDRA) as a tool for urban planning, infrastructure development, environmental management, and disaster risk reduction and management in the City of Davao.
The council also approved the ordinance adopting and institutionalizing the Davao City multi-hazard early warning system (MHEWS) handbook, providing for its implementation, monitoring, funding, and prescribing its updates, revisions, and systematic review.
During the Pulong Pulong sa Dabawenyo media forum on Tuesday, the proponent of the two ordinances, Davao City Councilor Isidro Ungab, said that the measures are important for disaster preparedness.
"The CDRA is the climate and disaster risk report, and all of that should be incorporated in any plan of the city government. All the reports of the CDRA should be incorporated in all government plans and programs," he said.
Ungab said that the CDRA should be mainstreamed and should form part of the city's land use program, such as the Local Development Investment Plan (LDIP) and other plans of the city government.
He said that the council also institutionalized, for the benefit of barangays and other offices, a guide for proactive measures that they can utilize in the event of disasters.
Ungab said that the MHEWS Handbook will help in the coordination of relaying information for the communities to be prepared for disaster events.
The MHEWS signals barangays, especially volunteers, to report the increase in water level of rivers and other signs of an incoming disaster.
"Those from far-flung areas might take a day for response to come or can be there. If you trained people in that particular area, at least in a small way, you can already start responding," he said.
He said that they aim to equip the people so they would know what to do before a hazard strikes.
“Before it happens, we can have the system in place to coordinate each particular office under the leadership of the CDRRMO. That’s why the CDRRMO was the one placed as the lead office of the multi-hazard early warning system because they need to have a response, whatever will happen," he said.
He emphasized that the city should always have a plan so that whenever any disaster strikes, the plan can be easily executed.
"We cannot always leave with reactionary situations; we have to plan and execute a plan before it happens, " Ungab said. CIO