LGUs share disaster risk reduction plans

(This report was first published online by Bicol Mail on 16 October 2014. Original version is available in this link.)

By Juan Escandor Jr.

Bicol Mail

NAGA CITY—More than a hundred representatives from municipalities, non-government organizations, and government agencies from all over the country are sharing their experiences and disaster risk reduction (DRR) plans here to build resilient communities in the face of climate change and frequency of weather-induced calamities.

In photo: Participants of "Ugnayan at Bahaginan" pose for a photo after their field visit to the mangrove plantation in Brgy. Cagsao, Calabanga, Camarines Sur. (Jigs Tenorio / ACCORD)

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(This report was first published online by Bicol Mail on 16 October 2014. Original version is available in this link.)

By Juan Escandor Jr.

Bicol Mail

Marieta Lupig Alcid, executive director of ACCORD (Assistance and Cooperation for Community Resiliency and Development), said they have gathered partner LGUs from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to share their work in DRR to learn from each other in the course of two-day conference held here, Oct. 12-13.

Alcid said DRR experiences and work of LGUs are on different levels with some of them are just starting while others have advance experiences in the emergency phase like those in the Supertyphoon Yolanda affected areas.

“We wanted to consolidate the shared DRR experiences and work to come up with improved methods of responding and reducing risks when disaster strikes in consideration of climate change and ecosystem of which the LGUs belong,” she explained.

Alcid said the conference also aimed to build a network of LGUs in high-risk areas as a mechanism to help each other in times of calamities from the lessons and practices of DRR, where the LGUs in the advance stage of work can help those who are just beginning in their DRR work.

She said they discussed further the situation of LGUs that belong to the same ecosystem for coordinated response and actions since this kind of situation transcends political boundaries.

Alcid said ACCORD was formed in 2010 with the primary work on disaster preparedness and mitigation within the framework of climate change and ecosystem preservation.

She said their group advocates for early action to avoid loss like early evacuation of communities in the path of typhoons and lessen response to disaster.

Alcid said they have partnered with 234 barangays, 58 towns, 27 provinces in 13 regions all over the Philippines since their foundation.

Mayor Eduardo Severo of Calabanga town in Camarines Sur, narrated they had been in partnership with ACCORD since it was founded for relief operations and since then has expanded their cooperation to prepare the communities in times of disasters.

Severo said they were able to formulate their own DRR plan which serves as their “bible” in the event of typhoons.

He said the conference here has enriched their present DRR plan and incorporated items which are not in their plan.

Jose Marlon Abellanosa, DRR officer of Bagangga town in Davao Oriental, said Accord has partnered with their LGU in 2012 when Typhoon Pablo struck Mindanao.

Abellanosa said they were so new with DRR because the last typhoon that struck their place was in 1912 or 100 years when Typhoon Pablo struck in 2012.

He said that through ACCORD they are learning how to respond to disasters and reduce risks since 2012 and that the conference here has enriched their knowledge about DRR.

In photo: Participants of "Ugnayan at Bahaginan" pose for a photo after their field visit to the mangrove plantation in Brgy. Cagsao, Calabanga, Camarines Sur. (Jigs Tenorio / ACCORD)