Local mayor gets UN honor for disaster readiness drive

CEBU, Philippines - San Francisco Vice Mayor Alfredo Arquillano Jr. was named champion for the Asia-Pacific Region on making cities and municipalities resilient to disasters by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

The appointment was handed to Arquillano by Jerry Velasquez, senior regional coordinator for UNISDR Asia and Pacific, during the Disaster Risk Reduction Campaign Launch for Central Visayas region held at the Capitol Social Hall, Cebu City, yesterday.

Arquillano said when he was mayor of San Francisco he was invited as one of the three presenters from the Philippines during the Southeast Asia Regional Consultation Workshop on Strengthening Climate Resilience in Bangkok, Thailand, last September 23.

The only mayor from Cebu, Arquillano presented his case study “Building Resilience in Small Island Communities, San Francisco, Camotes Islands , Cebu .”

Arquillano is tasked to promote the synergy between DRR and Climate Change Adaptation and work closely with all those concerned to obtain more political commitment to DRR policies that will help protect more communities against the negative impact of climate change.

He will play an important role in bridging the existing gap between national policy and local implementation in disaster risk reduction.

“I am even more challenged with this new appointment considering the fact that now is the time to act and prepare,” Arquillano said in his acceptance speech.

He urged his fellow local government officials to act now “boldly and urgently” to address the hazardous effects of climate change without jeopardizing the environment.

He emphasized the importance of empowering local communities to prepare as reducing disaster risk is everybody’s business and responsibility.

Arquillano said that he never expected that what he did in his nine years as town mayor of San Francisco would gain international recognition after Plan International discovered that his initiatives met the 10-point checklist of the UNISDR. 

In San Francisco, Arquillano empowered local community through “purok system approach”. He also promotes biking activities and gives importance to strong solid waste management implementation. He also installed solar power to remote barangays, set up water impounding dams, rehabilitated mangrove areas and established marine sanctuaries for the recovery of corals.

Senator Loren Legarda who was the keynote speaker in yesterday’s event stressed the importance of reducing disaster risks to achieve sustainable development and economic growth.

“As national and local government leaders, we have the moral responsibility to usher and achieve genuine development for the country and our communities. Disaster risk reduction essentially means genuine development —development that is sustainable and economic growth that is resilient,” she said.

Legarda said that the impact of disasters, especially on developing nations, are daunting, which is why she was impressed by the sincerity and readiness of stakeholders in Region 7 to cooperate in raising awareness in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation among local government leaders and in forging local government commitment to action.

“I wish to congratulate Governor Gwen Garcia for her exemplary leadership in advancing disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in Cebu. I also wish to commend the leaders and champions whom we have just recognized here today for their significant work in building the resilience of their local constituencies to disasters,” Legarda said. (FREEMAN)