Disaster preparedness

Happy blessed new month of March! Time really flies so fast, we are now on the 3rd month of this new year 2012! 

Soon classes will end and summer vacation will start. Those in school and universities must already be counting the days and looking forward to another school year completed and to March, April, May for their long-awaited break for recreation, reunions, and restful moments.

This month, however, also reminds us of the sad plight of the March 2 Maguindanao victims and their families who are still pursuing rightful justice and punishment for the perpetrators. We also all still have the clear and vivid memories of communities and people swept away by the powerful March 11 tsunami in Japan, the devastating strong earthquake that caused the tsunami as well as the dangerous nuclear crisis still ongoing in Fukushima. 

As we remember and pray for the massacre victims of Mindanao and the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor victims in Japan, we also remember and offer prayers for the earthquake victims in Negros as well as the typhoon victims in various parts of Mindanao.

We welcome and appreciate the latest reminder of DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo to all local officials to ensure effective disaster preparedness networks and mechanisms in every community all throughout the country.

The last tsunami scare that hit various parts of urban Cebu should be a timely call  for the local officials  to immediately and urgently organize and set-up disaster preparedness systems to mitigate the risks and damage to life especially.

While Cebu may not be among the 27 disaster-prone provinces listed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), precaution and preparedness are still the best option to take soonest.

For the information of those who have not yet read the list of vulnerable areas in the Philippines, the MGB listed 483 cities and municipalities as vulnerable to landslides and flashfloods , with 259 of these in Luzon, 111 in the Visayas, and 113 in Mindanao.

Robredo expects barangay officials to have a ready and updated list of at-risk communities which include those in low-lying lands, those along riverbanks, shorelines, esteros, canals and under slope areas.

Disaster preparedness should also take into special consideration the plight of the more vulnerable sectors that include the elderly, children, infants, pregnant women, persons with disabilities and the poor whose homes have weak structures and who have less facilities and resources for survival and coping.

The sad experiences with earthquakes, flashfloods and typhoons in the past in our country, as well as the sad experiences with disasters elsewhere throughout the world should already inform us all, especially our officials , about what urgent steps and measures need to be taken for effective disaster preparedness and management.

Quick dissemination of reliable information about what type of disaster, what to expect, what to do, at the very least should already be threshed out soonest.

Where people should go in the event of disasters, what they need to put in their disaster emergency kits (water, food, comfortable clothes, medicines, flashlights – those basic items needed for their survival within the next 24-72 hours) should also already be ready per barangay.

Designated evacuation areas per barangay should also be ready soonest and fully equipped with facilities (assured safe water supply, food rations, sleeping quarters for evacuees, sanitary toilets, communication facilities) together with the human network of responsible people to carry out the speedy but effective delivery of assistance and service to the needy evacuees. Again, the evacuation areas should be sensitive to the needs of women, children, elderly and people with disabilities and others who most need help.

We laud Robredo’s timely call and hope that he will strictly require all local officials to submit to him soonest reliable plans for  effective local mitigation and rehabilitation, disaster mitigation measures such as engineering techniques and hazard-resistant construction, improved environmental policies and public awareness, enforcement of comprehensive land-use planning, building and safety standards, and legislation.

Not only officials but all of us should cooperate to ensure that all these disaster preparations and management networks and measures are effectively installed at the soonest possible time.

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