‘Sense of urgency’ needed in disaster preparedness – Noy

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has reiterated the need for a “sense of urgency” among government agencies and local government units in dealing with natural calamities, a Palace spokesman said yesterday. 

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma said the President made the call during a meeting of the Cabinet cluster on climate change on Thursday.

He said the President stressed the need for awareness of the use of geo-hazard maps that indicate landslide- and flood-prone areas in each province, municipality or city to lessen the impact of natural calamities. 

Local disaster risk reduction and management councils should be able to respond in a timely and appropriate manner, he said. 

The Cabinet cluster reported the occurrence of 543 natural disasters from 1900 and 2014, 58 percent of which were storms and 25 percent floods.

“Responding to the challenge of climate change adaptation and disaster risk management, the cluster has adopted a strategy of improving resiliency to climate change,” Coloma said.  

Climate change adaptation and mitigation is one of the pillars of the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016.

Last June, the United Nations special representative for disaster risk reduction assessed the Philippines’ disaster preparedness at between six and seven or “above average,” with 10 being the highest.

Training for b'gay execs

Meanwhile, at least 394 barangay officials from 29 barangays in Malinao town and 23 barangays in Santo Domingo, both in Albay, were given basic emergency response training. 

“We understand that in times of emergency, fast action is of utmost importance. Thus, we would like to instill in our barangay leaders basic awareness of how to deal with various unexpected and dangerous situations so they can move swiftly as first responders,” said Fernando Esguerra, director of Globe’s Corporate Social Responsibility.

The training included fire safety; first aid based on mass casualty incident and rapid treatment; anti-terrorism and emergency preparedness.

 Globe said employees of the municipal disaster risk reduction and management office in the two villages would also undergo capacity building to enable them to understand different weather phenomena. – With Alexis Romero