Due to inadequate planning: No LGU fully-prepared to face calamities — COA

When Yolanda ripped through the Philippines last year, most of the country's local government units (LGUs) were unprepared for a strong typhoon or any other natural calamity.

 

According to a report by the GMA News Special Assignments Team, 56 percent or less than five out of 10 LGUs had low level of preparedness to face calamities, while 35 percent or about four out of 10 LGUs had medium level of preparedness.

 

Meanwhile, zero percent or none of the LGUs could have been considered fully-prepared to face calamities.

 

 

The data was based on a special report done by the Commission on Audit (COA) titled "Disaster Management Practices in the Philippines: An Assessment" conducted several months after Yolanda hit the country on November 8 last year.

 

The COA report also noted that, of the P76 million total funds of the LGUs for disaster management last year, only P33.07 million was used while P42.92 remained unused as of November 2013.

 

Meanwhile, only 17 percent or P121 million of the total available Quick Response Funds (QRF) of P692 million for Calendar Year 2013 was utilized for typhoon Yolanda "due to inadequate planning."

 

Not spending to prepare

 

Based on the 2013 Disaster Risk Management Budget, some 54 percent of the LGUs' spending was on disaster response rather than on mitigation and preparedness (46 percent).

 

According to the report, "spending is still largely in the area of response. The reactive type of disaster spending leaves the country more vulnerable and less prepared to handle disasters."

 

Interior and Local Goverment Secretary Mar Roxas said his department has not been remiss in reminding LGUs to spend their contingency funds for disaster preparedness, not just for disaster response.

 

"Sa sobrang pag-iingat na 'wag nating gastusin ito kasi baka dumating ang sakuna ay naantala yung paghahanda. Kaya ang sinasabi natin is you are allowed by COA to spend 70 percent of your contingency fund for disaster preparedness, so gastusin na ninyo'," Roxas said.

 

Meanwhile, National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director Alexander Pama said that starting in 2015, QRFs can be used not just for disaster response but also for preparedness.

 

“Dahil nga dun sa ating mga protocols and regulation, nagagamit po ito kapag nandiyan na yung bagyo o kaya pagkatapos. Dahil nga sa ating karanasan noong mga nakaraang taon, itong taon na ito ay naisaad na sa General Appropriations Act na pwede na po nating gamitin yan sa tinatawag na prepositioning of non-food items,” Pama said.

 

Lack of LDRRMO

 

Majority of the LGUs do not yet have their own Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices (LDRRMO), which are tasked under the law to implement and coordinate disaster management programs within their territorial jurisdiction.

 

Under Section 12 of the Philippines Disaster Risk Management Act, “there shall be established an LDRRMO in every province, city and municipality, and a Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee (BDRRMC) in every barangay which shall be responsible for setting the direction, development, implementation and coordination of disaster risk management programs within their territorial jurisdiction.”

 

However, based on records of the NDRRMC as of January 2014, only 847 out of the 1,592 cities and municipalities in the country have an established LDRRMO.

 

“Yan ang parati ang ine-encourage natin sa ating mga LGUs. Dahil ayon sa ating doktrina, ayon sa ating disaster risk reduction response, yung talagang first responders ay yung pinaka malapit sa komunidad, which is the LGU,” Roxas said.

 

Disaster preparation checklist

 

Aside from the establishment of local disaster offices, the government must craft a back-up plan in case the local responders becomes incapacitated due to the magnitude of the calamity, according to Prof. Prospero De Vera of the University of the Philippine National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG).

 

“Ang problema sa ating patakaran or ating policy is wala tayong back-up plan sa first responders, so ang nangyari, the national government had to literally take over local government functions and that is not the way efficient relief operations should proceed. Mahirap mag-transport ng tao, mahirap transport ng supplies,” De Vera said.

 

Roxas, for his part, said the DILG has crafted a more practical and simplified disaster preparation checklist that would serve as a guide for LGUs in their preparation.

 

“Yung mga best practices, we codified at ginawa nating 'minimum critical preparation.' May checklist na sila ng mga dapat ihanda at gawin... para ba hindi nalilito in times of calamity,” Roxas said.

 

Safer land for housing

 

But pre-positioning goods and equipment as well as enhancing the capacity of the responders, is not enough, according Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez.

A necessary long-term step for LGUs to prevent casualty in the event of disaster is to focus on the relocation of residents living in danger zones, he said.

 

“Dati noon ang iniisip lang natin ay kung papaano natin mailalagay sa safety yung mga tao. Ngayon hindi na lang yun e. Ngayon, kahit sinong gobyerno, kahit anong LGU, kailangan tanggalin talaga ang mga tao sa danger zone. You should not compromise that,” Romualdez said.

 

Based on the records of the City Housing and Development Office of Tacloban City, as of October 2014, there are still 3,627 families living in makeshift shelters in the danger zone.

 

“Medyo natagalan tayo sa housing (program implementation) kasi kailangang i-identify natin yung suitable site for resettlement. Hindi pwedeng maski saan nalang pwedeng magpatayo ng bahay,” said Sec. Panfilo Lacson, Presidential Adviser for Rehabilitation and Recovery.

 

“Walang lupa na pag-aari ang lokal na pamahalaan na ganun kalaki para i-accommodate ang ganun karaming mga pamilya,” Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman added.

 

President Benigno Aquino III signed the master plan to rehabilitate the affected areas only last October 29.

 

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) chief Herminio “Sonny” Coloma, however, maintained that even before the signing of the master plan, the administration has been implementing various rehabilitation programs in the region.

 

“Meron na tayong master plan even ahead of the formal signing or approval, maraming bahagi nito ang naumpisahan nang ipatupad,” Coloma said. — Elizabeth Marcelo/JST, GMA News