Stilling earthquake pains

True to its slogan “Always first, always ready, always there” to help victims during calamities, the Philippine Red Cross quickly rushed to help thousands of people affected by the series of strong earthquakes in Mindanao. 

PRC Chairman Richard Gordon and the staff and volunteers of Red Cross chapters flocked to different evacuation centers. “More than 35,000 families or 178,305 individuals have been affected in Regions 11 and 12. They are in dire need of assistance such as food, medicine, clean water and essential household items (water containers, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, sleeping kits).

“Since the first quake struck Mindanao on Oct. 16, our teams have been working round-the-clock, providing first aid and other humanitarian services,” Gordon said.

Gordon is appealing for support from organizations and individuals to augment Philippine Red Cross efforts. 

PRC’s sanitation and hygiene team started producing water in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato to ensure adequate and safe drinking water especially for the residents staying in evacuation centers. 

 PRC North Cotabato-Kidapawan City chapter provided hot meals to almost 3,000 individuals in Old Bulatukan and Malasila Elementary Schools in Makilala, North Cotabato, administered first-aid, conducted psychological counselling, distributed beneficiary cards to 529 families and potable water to Barangay Ilomavis residents.

In Davao Del Sur, water distribution in the municipalities of Magsaysay, Balabag and Digos City is ongoing. Two hundred seventy one families in the municipality of Bansalan were also provided with sleeping and health kits while construction of latrines and shower facilities continues in Barangay Tarapuay and Kinuskusan.

PRC uses resources provided by generous donors for these activities. The public can help PRC replenish these resources by donating through the following avenues: BDO, Peso Savings: 00-453-0190938, Dollar Savings: 10-453-0039482, 

Swift Code: BNORPHMM. For BPI donations, send to BPI Peso Savings: 4991-0036-52, Swift Code: BOPIPHMM. For Metrobank, Peso Savings: 151-7-151524342, Dollar Savings: 151-2-151002182, Swift Code: MBTCPHMM. For Paypal, [email protected].

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Ocoy River, which passes through Valencia, Dumaguete and Sibulan, has a history of massive flooding that has caused deaths, injuries, and loss of property and livelihood. In 2011, the river overflowed due to heavy rains brought on by typhoon Sendong, which caused a flood that killed 22 people.

Despite the dangers, people continue to build homes along the riverbanks.

“Climate change will increase the likelihood of destructive typhoons and the frequency of heavy downpours, which for the communities along Ocoy River would mean more exposure to dangerous floods,” said Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, a professor at Silliman’s Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences and College of Engineering.

Thankfully, one and a half years ago, Silliman University organized a research project involving researchers from multiple fields with the goal of making households and businesses along Ocoy River more resilient to floods. The project is called, “A Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Settlement Behavior and Resilience of Households and Businesses Along Ocoy river.”    

The project leader, Dr. Emmanuel, said the multiple disciplines are sociology/anthropology, chemistry/biology, geophysical science/engineering and computer studies

“The project demonstrates the value of an interdisciplinary approach to tackling urgent problems,” Dr. Enrique Oracion, SU’s director of research and leader of the project’s sociology/anthropology team.

Among the tools developed by Oracion’s team were social questionnaires to understand the perceptions and “sense of place” of residents and businesses, which provides insight into why people remain in a place despite its perceived high risk and can guide policymakers on climate adaptive resettlement.

“We found out that all throughout the Ocoy River, people have a very strong sense of place. Which is the reason why they don’t want to move out…If you want to relocate them, you need to build a sense of place for them in the new place. If you don’t do that, they will come back,” said Emmanuel.

The project’s recommendations are divided into four parts: preventing and mitigating flood and disaster; community preparedness; disaster response or what to do during a flood, and post-disaster recovery or what to do after a flood.

For flood prevention and mitigation, the researchers recommend identifying the river’s most vulnerable parts and having an improved floor control structure built with the latest engineering methods.

Other recommendations include increasing public awareness on flood preparedness measures such as the use of go-bags; ensuring the preparedness of Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management offices and other sectors involved in rescue, response, recovery and relief operations, and training communities on first aid and basic life support.

“In a disaster, if somebody knows first aid, the chances of survival are much improved, so what we did with our project is do a workshop for community leaders on first aid and basic life support,” said Emmanuel.

Dr. Dave Marcial, college of computer studies dean, developed a web portal and database on the Ocoy river that can be accessed by the public. His team also developed a mobile application system that could be part of the province’s early warning system. “We are introducing a new application called Siren, which was developed by Silliman students. It has an information board, early warning, and incident report system.”

Dr. Betty Cernol-McCann, Silliman president, formally presented the written recommendations to the city mayor and representatives of the LGUs of Dumaguete, Sibulan and Valencia during a media conference. 

The project, which took a year and a half to complete, was funded by the Oscar M. Lopez Center for Climate Change and Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management Foundation Inc. as the recipient of its 2017 Resilience Grant. It also worked closely with Disaster Risk Reduction and Management office and held numerous consultations with residents, businesses, barangay officials and other stakeholders.

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For best pre-holiday shopping, mark Nov. 24, the one-day International Bazaar at the PICC Forums 1, 2 and 3 at the CCP Complex, Pasay City, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The bazaar is organized by the International Bazaar Foundation (IBF) in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic and Consular Corps and the spouses of the heads of missions (SHOM). “This bazaar will showcase the finest products from 40 different countries,” says Maria Lourdes Locsin, wife of DFA Secretary Teddy Locsin.

Proceeds of the bazaar will benefit local charities.

 IBF chairperson is Louie Locsin. President of SHOM is Susan Fries, wife of Swedish Ambassador Harald Fries.

Entrance tickets cost P150 while donor cards cost P250. For inquiries, call 8331320. Send email to [email protected]

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Email: [email protected]