Disaster risk council asks for more gear

CEBU, Philippines - While national disaster consciousness month was launched yesterday at the Department of Health-7, members of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council-7 asked for more equipment from their local government units.

“Di nalang ta maghuwat, we must always be ready,” said Office of the Regional Civil Defense spokesman Neil Sanchez, adding that last Tuesday’s sudden downpour was an example of what is yet to come.   

Sanchez encouraged local government units in the region to conduct preemptive measures and, when needed, immediate evacuation in high-risk areas.

However, Sanchez could not assure as a member of the RDRRMC that they are fully ready to answer to emergencies with their current state. The question of readiness came after the council was compared to Davao’s well-equipped emergency crisis team.

According to him, Davao invested in equipment, stressing that the same equipment should also be acquired by any flood-prone city like Cebu.

During the activity, members of the RDRRMC-7 such as the Philippine National Police, Coast Guard, Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Bureau of Fire Protection explained how they are ready to respond to any crisis with only what they have.

Cebu City Fire Marshall Aderson Comar said that they have been trying to enhance their equipment even before he assumed his position. But so far the only things that they could add in their arsenal are two new fire trucks which are still under procurement process as of Tuesday.  

“We can’t move on when we don’t have equipment,” Comar said.

The fire department also has only eight teams to inspect 24,000 establishments throughout the year.

As the Coast Guard District Central Eastern Visayas covers not just Region 7 but also Region 8, Commander Anelito Gabisan admitted that they are really undermanned, adding that they have barely enough men to cover their vast nautical territory.

Gabisan said they have advised their substations throughout central and eastern Visayas to form their own crisis response teams.

With only a handful of ships at their disposal, the Coast Guard relies on auxiliaries from local shipping companies and fishing boats during sea-related crises.

“We can utilize the public to help us during crisis,” Gabisan added.

Unlike the Coast Guard, Cebu Provincial Police Office Deputy Director for Administration Senior Supt. Samuel Yordan assured that they have more than enough manpower, 7,000 police men to be exact, ready to be mobilized if needed.

However, he said that they have limited fully-trained personnel while the rest are trained in basic first-aid and crisis response skills.

Yordan also said they have only their men to count on, adding that they only have old radios for communication and their men’s brawns during mobilization. 

All members of the RDRRMC who were present clarified that they are ready to attend to any crisis as far as their manpower and resources are concerned.

However they all said though they are always ready to respond to any emergencies even without proper equipment, they can only settle for old radios, makeshift seacraft and others improvizations out of sheer Filipino ingenuity just to save lives.

Instead of the conventional motorcades, the national disaster consciousness month was launched by a bike parade from the Central Command to the Department of Health regional office along Osmeña Boulevard. (FREEMAN)