Philippines: Gov't wants safer, resilient communities against disasters
Iloilo City - The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Framework (NDRRMF) that was adopted recently by the government was conceived to make communities in the country safer, adaptive and resilient against disasters toward sustainable development.
The framework is in consonance with Republic Act No. 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Law of 2010.
Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) chair Rosario T. Cabrera said that the framework shall serve as the principal guide to disaster risk reduction and management efforts in the country over the next five years.
Cabrera, who presented the salient aspects of the framework during the council’s 3rd quarterly meeting held July 6 at Iloilo Grand Hotel here, said the framework was crafted after a series of nationwide consultations involving various stakeholders in disaster management through the bottom-up and participatory approach.
The four aspects of the framework are prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response, and rehabilitation and recovery.
The expected outcomes in these aspects are as follows: prevention and mitigation – hazards are avoided and their potential impacts mitigated by reducing vulnerabilities and exposure and enhancing the capacities of communities; preparedness – capacities of communities to anticipate, cope and recover from the negative impacts of emergency occurrences and disasters are established and strengthened; response – life preservation is provided and basic subsistence needs of affected population met based on acceptable standards during or immediately after a disaster; and, rehabilitation and recovery – facilities, livelihood, living conditions and organizational capacities of affected communities are restored and improved and disaster risks are reduced in accordance with the “building back better” principle.
Earlier, at the signing of the document in Manila. Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Jr. said the new disaster management policy document will provide the Aquino administration an effective foundation in dealing with disasters while minimizing their impact on the growth potential of the country.