NDRRMC: Local governments now better prepared for natural disasters

Even with 12 lives lost and damages worth more than P300 million left by Typhoon Mario, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director Usec. Alexander Pama maintained that the government's disaster preparedness and response had significanlty improved this year.

 

In a live phone patch interview with GMA News TV's “News To Go” Tuesday morning, Pama, who was appointed head of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) and the NDRRMC only in May of this year, said marked improvement could be observed in the local level as each local government unit (LGU) now had its own disaster preparedness masterplan.

 

“Siguro kapansin-pansin na improvement dito ay yung aksyon na ginagawa ng ating lokal na pamahalaan bago pa man dumating yung sakuna. Yung preparedness nga na sinasabi natin at pati na rin yung kooperasyon at pakikipagtulungan ng ating mga mamamayan,” Pama said.

 

He said the overall improvement in the country's disaster preparedness and response could also be attributed to the Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment (PDRA) mechanism, which the OCD launched in June.

 

“Naglagay na tayo ng sistema, yung tinatawag nating Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment... ang pinakaimportante na-achieve natin dun is yung coordination ng mga ahensya, lalo na yung core group na kasama natin sa forecasting, preparedness, response, saka sa rebuilding or reconstruction,” Pama said.

 

Under the PDRA mechanism, disaster managers in each LGU are required to conduct pre-disaster risk assessment in their respective areas and design the appropriate responses based on these identified risks.

 

Pama said the PDRA mechanism served to dictate the protocol of action to be followed by the government disaster managers in each locality.

 

“Maganda yung mga naitatag na doktrina or protocol of action kaya mas nagiging efficient yung preparedness and response at the local level,” Pama said.

 

One improvement that Pama cited in terms of disaster response was the more strategic pre-positioning of relief items.

 

“Mas maganda na yung prepositioning ng ating mga relief items, hindi lamang sa kung saan ilalagay, kundi kung gaano karami yung kailangang i-preposition at anong klase ng mga relief items, base na rin doon sa mga nakikita natin na calamity or hazard na darating,” Pama said.

 

He also cited the improvement in terms of weather forecasting systems and how the information was now being presented in a way that could easily be understood by the public.

 

Pama said that the dissemination of weather information to the local level had also significantly improved.

 

“Ang gusto kong bigyan ng diin is yung improvement of the system of forecasting, kung saan, yan ang nagiging basehan natin sa ating preparation. Maganda na rin ho ang naging improvement ng ating DILG sa pagbibigay ng coordination at warning sa ating mga lokal na pamahalaan,” Pama said.

Pama, however, admitted that there was still a need to improve the country's weather forecasting facilities and technology as well as the synchonization and coordination of the actions of the LGUs and the national government.

 

“Kung meron mang isang bagay na kailangan nating iimprove pa, yun ay yung ating mga kagamitan...At mapa igting pa natin yung proseso ng pagsi-synchronize at coordination ng ating mga ginagawa,” Pama said.

 

In a bulletin posted on its website Tuesday morning, the NDRRMC said that as of 9 p.m. on Monday, September 22, there were at least 12 people who died from Typhoon Mario while two others were missing.

 

Damage caused by Mario was estimated at P389,177,703, including P314,852,680 in infrastructure and P74,325,023 in agriculture. —NB, GMA News