A very long way to go

THE SERIES of destructive earthquakes that hit Mindanao prompted calls for a full review on the compliance and implementation of Republic Act (RA) 10121or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010. Despite the regular earthquake and disaster management drills conducted by various local government units and commercial establishments, there are still noticeable lapses especially on evacuation procedures and emergency response protocols.

When the actual disaster hits us we still tend to panic. Even our emergency responders still have to do some adjustments on how to properly assess priorities especially during life-and-death situations on multiple locations.

A review of the extent of disaster risk reduction and management education, especially in all schools nationwide, is warranted, with the end view of producing Filipinos with adequate life-saving and disaster survival and management skills. RA 10121 mandated disaster risk reduction and management education in the school curricula of secondary and tertiary level of education, including the National Service Training Program, whether private or public, including formal and non-formal, technical-vocational, indigenous learning and out-of-school youth courses and programs. However, based on the recent experience, it now shows that disaster risk reduction and management education should go beyond the four corners of the classroom and should be inculcated among families and among communities.

Disaster risk reduction and management education that are taught in traditional classrooms might not be adequate and does not prove sufficient to solidify the culture of discipline, awareness, preparedness, resiliency, initiative, involvement and patriotism among the youth.

The earthquakes that shook parts of Mindanao should serve as a reminder that these events are inevitable and the only way to deal with  disaster is for the public to have the basic know-how on life-saving and disaster survival and management skills. These skills include basic life support, including Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care; actual assessment and managing/mitigation of vulnerability or disaster hazards or risks at home and in school; addressing public health, water and food concerns during emergencies; first aid; exiting a burning building and how to put out fire; skills in logistics management and communications and other disaster adaptation and preparations.

A review on the implementation of the country’s primary law on disaster response is very important because there might be need to fine-tune its provisions and in terms of relevance and methodology. We still have a very long way to go before we can truly say that we are ready to deal with major disasters.

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