Robredo urges LGUS ensure disaster preparedness
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo reiterated his call on local officials to ensure disaster preparedness in their respective communities.
Robredo issued the call after the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) released a list of at least 483 cities and municipalities nationwide that are identified as vulnerable to landslides and flashfloods.
Of this number, 259 are in Luzon, 111 in the Visayas and 113 in Mindanao.
“We do not want local governments to be caught flatfooted again so we need all these necessary information to determine what kind of interventions we need to undertake to prevent a similar occurrence in the future,” Robredo said.
Robredo noted scores of people living in low-lying areas perished from the devastating flashfloods and landslides triggered by storm “Sendong” in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro cities last year.
He said barangay officials should have a ready and updated list of atrisk communities to maximize rescue operations.
Robredo pointed out the at- risk communities include those living in low-lying lands, along riverbanks, shorelines, esteros, canals and in and under slope areas which are prone to landslides and flooding; people with special needs such as elderly, children, infants, pregnant women and persons with disability; and poorly constructed houses and facilities.
In December last year, close to 700 people died and hundreds more remain missing in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan because of the flashfloods brought by Sendong despite previous warnings from the DILG and the geosciences bureau for the LGUS to take preventive measures.
The DILG earlier issued a directive to city and municipal mayors, in relation to their general supervisory function over barangays under Section 32 of the Local Government Code, to ensure that calamity protocols in flood-prone or landslide prone areas are to be carried out.
The MGB also identified the 27 disasterprone provinces in the country that included La Union, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Isabela, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Laguna, Quezon, Albay, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Capiz, Negros Oriental, Bohol, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Zamboanga del Sur, Bukidnon, Davao Oriental, North Cotabato, Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Maguindanao.
Robredo also asked provincial governors to immediately start preparing their local mitigation and rehabilitation plans, taking into consideration the geohazard map.
Republic Act 10121 defines disaster mitigation as the lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters on at-risk communities, while disaster rehabilitation involves rebuilding livelihood and damaged infrastructure and increasing the communities’ organizational capacity.
On the other hand, Robredo said city and municipal mayors should be able to identify disaster mitigation measures requiring local government priority action, 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.
He added all the necessary information should be submitted to his office in his capacity as vice chairman for Preparedness of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, through the Bureau of Local Government Supervision (BLGS), by the concerned DILG regional directors or ARMM regional governor who shall assist and monitor local government compliance on his directive.