IN CONSTANTLY reminding local government units to strengthen their respective pre-disaster preparations especially this rainy season, the Office of Civil Defense in Western Visayas may sound like a broken record. But it has a point. Studies have shown the Philippines to be exposed to natural hazards.
The country’s geographical location makes it prone to natural hazards, which can be addressed by building resilience. This necessitates strengthened disaster risk reduction programs. But the unfortunate truth is that aside from the country’s physical attributes, other factors such as poor urban governance, vulnerable rural livelihoods, and continuing ecosystems decline have made disaster risks more prevalent in our communities.
The situation calls for a multi-hazard approach for early warning system anchored on close coordination among hazard warning agencies. Our local government units must step up. They should plan well and invest public resources wisely with reducing disaster risk as a goal; promote a culture of safety and resilience engaging all stakeholders and sectors; raise awareness of disaster and climate risk at community and family level; and improve local early warning and community preparedness systems.
All these actions are actually contained in the Hyogo Framework for Action, a global blueprint for disaster risk reduction efforts with a 10-year plan, adopted in 2005 yet during the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. It’s never too late to implement them.
The bottom line is this: national and local government leaders should address the factors that aggravate disaster risks and build resilience to reduce the effects of exposure of communities to natural hazards.
It is no longer business as usual. Disasters are becoming more formidable.
