THE ILOILO City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) encourages residents to have survival kits containing tools and supplies enough to meet their needs for 72 hours during disasters or emergencies.
This makes sense. The Philippines is among the countries most affected by climate change in the last two decades. Emergencies such as earthquakes, storms, flooding, storm surge, water scarcity, fire, and soil liquefaction can happen, some without warning.
A survival kit usually contains the family’s food supply, first-aid and hygiene kits, medicines, water, clothes, beddings, and other items they will need to survive for the next 72 hours as three days are said to be the crucial time for disaster response.
The kit has to be checked and replenished every three months and stored in an area that can be easily accessed.
It is incumbent upon the government to be more active and assertive in increasing the resiliency of citizens and transforming them to become its reliable partners and enablers for sustainable development. One effective tool to realize sustainable development is through education. It is vital to cultivate in the minds of people, especially our young ones, a sustainable lifestyle and resilient character that will allow them to reach their full potential while moderately using resources and mitigating climate change.
There used to be a proposed measure in the House giving the Department of Education the mandate to incorporate Sustainability and Resiliency Studies, or SRS, in the school curriculum. What happened to it?
The SRS is eyed as a fusion of sustainability, disaster resilience, and climate change education. This course, contained in modules to be incorporated in the Science, Social Studies, Values Education, and Health subjects, can help foster a culture of sustainability among the Filipino youth to empower them to be our agents in building sustainable and resilient communities all over the country.
Let us produce a new generation of Filipinos who value sustainable lifestyle, resilient and able to help combat climate change.
