5/18/2021 CODE 226: CFED 1061- CICM in Action: Environmental Protection Management - Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction -

CODE 226: CFED 1061- CICM in Action: Environmental Protection Management

Week 3: Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

The Philippines has been battered by many catastrophic storms and other natural and man-made disasters since time immemorial due to its geographic
location both at the typhoon belt and the Ring of Fire. The country is prone to multiple recurring hazards such as cyclones, floods, earthquakes and
landslides. In truth, the 2012 World Risk Report ranked the Philippines third out of 173 countries in terms of disaster risk (Internal Displacement Monitoring
Centre, 2013).

In 1970, President Ferdinand Marcos saw the need to establish a Disaster and Calamities Plan prepared by an Inter-Departmental Planning Group on
Disasters and Calamities. Then in 1972, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) was established by Letter of Instruction 19. OCD was mandated to coordinate
national level activities and functions of the national government, private institutions and civic organizations. Finally in 1978, through Presidential Decree
(PD) 1566, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) was established as the highest policy-making body and the focal organization for disaster
management in the country. The law also provided for the establishment of regional, provincial, city, municipal, and barangay disaster coordinating councils.
In 2009, the Congress enacted the Climate Change Act of 2009 and in 2010, RA 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
(PDRRM) Act (COA, n.d.).

EFFECTS OF DISASTERS: RISK AND RESILIENCE

Every year, millions of people are affected by both human-caused and natural disasters. Disasters may be explosions earthquakes, floods, hurricanes,
tornados, or fire. In a disaster. you face the danger of death or physical injury. You may also lose your home, possessions, and community. Such stressors
place you at risk for emotional and physical health problems.

Stress reactions after a disaster look very much like the common reactions seen after any type of trauma. Disasters can cause a full range of mental and
physical reactions. You may also react to problems that occur after the event, as they trigger and remind you of the trauma.

DISASTER RISK REDUCTION MANAGEMENT

The vision for Disaster Risk-Reduction Management is “to build a safe and disaster-resilient
community by developing a holistic, pro-active, multi-disaster and technology-driven strategy for Disaster Management. This will be achieved through a
culture of prevention, mitigation and preparedness to generate a prompt and efficient response at the time of disasters” (Capacity Development in Disaster
Risk Management, 2008).

This DRMM will support the establishment of the structure and the system required for proactively enabling DRMM to directly target institutional building and
capacity development measures on disaster management with the objective to strengthen the prevention of disaster risks and also contribute to the
achievement of the second part of the national vision for preparedness to generate a prompt and efficient response at the time of disasters.

All these initiatives mainly address the first part of the national vision on developing a proactive approach for promoting prevention, mitigation and
preparedness for disaster management (CDDRM, 2008).

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REPUBLIC ACT 10121- THE PHILIPPINE DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND

MANAGEMENT ACT

Republic Act 10121, passed in May 2010 acknowledges among other things, the need to “adopt a disaster risk reduction and management approach that is
holistic, comprehensive, integrated, and proactive in lessening the socio-economic and environmental impacts of disasters including climate change, and
promote the involvement and participation of all sectors and all stakeholders concerned, at all levels, especially the local community.”

R.A 10121 provides a strong legal and institutional basis for DRRM in the country and it gives a boost to the development of policies and plans,
implementation of actions and measures pertaining to all aspects of disaster risk reduction and management, including good governance, risk assessment
and early warning, knowledge building and awareness raising, reducing underlying risk factors, and prepareness for effective response and early recovery.

 IMPORTANCE OF DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT

It reduces the vulnerability of the communities.

It makes the community become disaster resistant/resilient.
It helps the community mitigate and prevent the disaster.
It helps the community recover from common natural disasters.

GOALS AND PHASES OF DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT IN THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES:
1. To educate affected communities on the adverse effect of disaster like flood, and to consequently prepare them of these disasters.
2. To provide hands-on experience and training such as Earthquake, Fire, Typhoon and Flood drill, to prepare them in the event of a disaster.

The following are the phases of the programs in terms of:

PREVENTION:

To enhance and capacitate the knowledge of the community and volunteers about the nature of disaster.

MITIGATION:

To enhance and capacitate the community and volunteers through mitigating procedures necessary prior to preparation

PREPAREDNESS:

To enhance and actively prepare the community and volunteers to develop their skills in case of disaster.

RESPONSE/RECOVERY/REHABILITATION:

To enhance and capacitate the active response of the community to common natural disasters.

WHAT IS COMMUNITY-BASED DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT

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5/18/2021 CODE 226: CFED 1061- CICM in Action: Environmental Protection Management - Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction -
RA 10121 defines CBDRRM as a process of disaster risk reduction and management in which at-risk communities are actively engaged in the identification,
analysis, monitoring and evaluation of disaster risks in order to reduce their vulnerabilities and enhance their capacities, and where the people are at the
heart of decision making and implementation of disaster risk reduction and management activities.

CBDRRM highlights the role of the people - the community members themselves in pr paring for and responding to disasters. It aims to empower people in
generating solutions to address their vulnerabilities and make them less prone to the impact of hazards Through CBDRRM, the efforts and solutions
generated will be sustainable since it will be used by the community members themselves, and will be passed down from one generation to the other.

LEGAL BASES OF CBDRRM

In the past, the approach used for DRRM is the top-down approach: that is, the national government plans every aspect and cascades everything down to
the local government until the level of the barangay. This approach is not cognizant of the unique situation of - and the dynamic within the barangays, and
between the barangays and the municipal government up to the provincial government.

Today, recognizing that the community members are the ones who are first hit by disasters, they should be equipped to respond to disasters on their own.
Since they are the ones who know the hazards they face, and their own vulnerabilities, exposures, and capacities, they should be equipped with skills on
how to plan accordingly in order for them to efficiently and effectively prevent, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and rehabilitate and recover from disasters.
This approach is called "community-based disaster risk reduction and management".

In order for CBDRRM to gain traction, several laws serve as bases in the implementation of CBDRRM in communities. These laws are the following,
arranged from the latest down to the earliest:

1. RA 10121, otherwise known as the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 (superseding PD 1566 of
1978)
2. RA 9729, otherwise known as the Climate Change Act of 2009
3. RA 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991

CICM TOWARDS DISASTER RISK REDUCTION MANAGEMENT

The CICM Catholic educational institution offers not only quality relevant education but also extension services that aim for the holistic development of the
human person. It envisions developing socially aware, steward, sensitive and responsive members of the Louisian Community through active involvement in
community extension and outreach activities towards community and development. As a CICM educational institution, it pursues its programs within the
broader frame of the CICM missionary focus on the transformation of the world and the coming of the reign of God (CICM Constitutions Commentary, 1999).

USL PARTICIPATES IN NATIONWIDE SIMULTANEOUS EARTHQUAKE DRILL

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With the goal of preparing the school administrators, faculty, personnel, and students in natural disasters that may occur, the University of Saint Louis joined
in the 2019 Second Quarter Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) on June 20. Dr. Rina M. Reyes, the Vice President for Administration, gave
her words of gratitude to the representatives of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), the
Provincial DRRMO, and the Philippine National Police (PNP), for stirring awareness and preparing Louisians for natural disasters.

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