OCD eyes to strengthen disaster mgmt councils in Davao Region

COMPOSTELA VALLEY,  April 17 (PIA):   Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) regional director retired BGen Lorito G. Rirao is eyeing  for  a much strengthened disaster councils in the Davao Region.

Attending the series of After Typhoon Pablo  Action Review  conducted in the provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental,  Rirao gathered inputs on  how to  strengthen  the  capacity of local governments to carry out disaster preparedness, mitigation, response and rehabilitation.

In an interview, he said  OCD will conduct a  review of  the Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) plans at the regional level  “as mandated by the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council” and ensure  they are aligned with  the national DRRM plan.

He announced that there will be a disaster regional  summit on July 31 at the closing of the Disaster Consciousness Month during which DRMM plan review will also be part of, to incorporate some necessary points  that came out as lessons learned during  the onslaught of Typhoon Pablo.

Aside from the DRMM plan review,  Rirao also saw the need for the  activation and creation of DRRM office at the local level and  the strengthening of DRRM first responders.

While government agencies at the regional level can serve as national responders, local government units are mandated under the Republic Act 101211 or the Philippine Disaster Reduction and Management Act of 2010, to organize and train their own responders,  Rirao said.

He was also looking at  preparing the people to become “resilient Filipino communities,” “They must be able to cope with the negative impact of any disaster,”  he said.

While all aspects of improvement would  require focus, time and effort,  Rirao said they “must go hand in hand”  in fulfillment of  RA 101211, starting with the DRMM plan, then moving on to setting up a mechanism  of implementing the plan, to organizing responders, to capacitating communities.

“All tools and systems must be in place to ensure safe and adaptive communities,” he said.  (PIA XI/ Jeanevive Duron-Abangan)