Capitol acquires P49.3 million equipment

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) has acquired at least P49.3 million worth of new disaster response equipment in the last quarter of 2018.

This includes a six-wheeler boom truck, a backhoe loader, a dump truck, and two units of rescue trucks.

On top of this, the office has also spent P18.5 million for the construction of evacuation centers, P3.6 million was for slope protection, and P2.4 million for playground facilities.

The disaster resilient evacuation centers are still ongoing in three municipalities namely, Carmen, Pilar and Santa Fe.

The three are considered as the focus area of their respective municipal clusters.

Among those that benefit the structural for mitigation and prevention measures though construction of slope protection, river ripraps, and off-shore protection are the towns of Poro, Malabuyoc, Argao, and Alegria.

Meanwhile, playgrounds are constructed in the disaster-affected towns of San Remigio, Daanbantayan, and Bantayan as part of the office's effort to restore basic facilities.

PDRRMO also purchased P900,000 worth of disaster preparedness kits, P2.3 million worth of water tanks, and P2.3 million of pulverizer and plastic shredder in partnership with the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Offices (PENRO).

Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials were also produced and 3,140 pieces of ‘Pagpangandam sa Katalagman’ handbook, 900 pieces of visibility items, and 210 atlas map for earthquake were distributed.

Insurances were also part of the office's investments.

Over P22 million was spent for agri-fishery insurance and P8.5 million was spent to insure Capitol-owned buildings.

As indicated in their accomplishment report, the office has a fund utilization rate of 99.99 percent as of November 2018.

Over 2,000 individuals were also trained by PDRRMO on multiple areas such as Karst Management, Emergency Response and cacao and bamboo growing.

This measure is classified under the disaster preparedness efforts.

Around P1 million worth of welfare goods were also prepositioned on the last quarter of the year for immediate assistance in case of calamity.

Risk assessments with the help of PDRRMO and other partner organizations were also done in the jurisdiction of four local government units namely Tuburan, Carmen, Asturias, and Naga City.

These areas were checked due to observed cracks in the mountains. The one in Asturias is for the assessment for a proposed poultry farm site development.

Overall, the office's average fund utilization rate as of November 2018 is beyond 60 percent.

Areas it focuses on are disaster preparedness, disaster prevention and mitigation, and disaster rehabilitation and recovery. (FREEMAN)