STORIES OF CONTRACTUAL WORKERS FEATURED AT UP CEBU'S JOSE T. JOYA GALLERY

Some of us are unaware of the irony of cursing service workers, hoping they lose their job over a little inconvenience when it’s also probably their last month of employment due to contractualization. Last week, the stories of these workers were featured at the University of the Philippines Cebu’s Jose T. Joya Gallery, in a photojournalism excursion into the lives of workers earning below P10,000 a month. Dubbed “Under 10,” the exhibit of black and white photographs and stories is a project of the Mass Communication program’s Journalism 103A class.

Losses, like the deaths of three boys in a flood and a landslide in Cebu City last week, underscore the need to use wisely our communities’ limited funds for disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM).

Under the law, local governments have to set aside at least five percent of their estimated revenue for DRRM. This used to be called the Local Calamity Fund.

In the past 14 years, the national government has encouraged local governments not to wait for disaster, but to invest on preparedness. That can include training, buying life- saving rescue equipment and medicine, and paying for calamity insurance.

State auditors have asked local officials to use DRRM funds correctly. In 2014, for example, it found out that three regions ( but not Central Visayas) had disbursed P2.72 billion in disaster management funds, without the correct supporting documents.

Here’s a look at how much Cebu Province and its cities have spent on responding to or preventing disasters in 2015 and 2016.