As the province braces for the transition from El Nino to La Nina, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) has also began preparations to address possible scenarios.
PDRRMO head Jeremias Alili said on Wednesday, June 5, that while El Niño is already in its final phase, La Niña is also approaching with the onset of the rainy season, so they are already deploying necessary materials.
Alili said they have started with the prepositioning of goods that includes food packs and non-food items to strategic areas in different towns.
He said the PDRRMO is also continuously conducting trainings for additional volunteers to assist whenevery they will be needed.
“As we speak, we have RDANA (Rapid Disaster Assessment and Needs Analyis) training and then next week, we will also conduct PDNA (Post-Disaster Needs Assessment) training also,” Alili said in an interview with Palawan News.
He likewise said they are looking to further widen their information dissemination campaign.
“Hopefully, yung ating pagbibigay ng awareness sa mga kababayan natin, nagawa na rin natin ng mas malawakan because ngayon, we are relying on social media but hopefully, we can launch our provincial radio station this June para mas malawak ang marating natin” he said.
Meanwhile, the PDRRMC has forged an alliance with a volunteer group Palawan DRRM Auxiliary to further strengthen the disaster response and other related activities of the council during their 2nd quarterly meeting at the VJR Hall of the provincial capitol on Wednesday, June 5.
Alili said the PDRRM Auxiliary is a newly organized group of volunteers, most of whom are community based so they will be working with their respective municipal DRRMs.
“Ang target natin dito talaga is maparami natin yung mga kasama natin at makakatulong pagdating sa pagsusulong ng DRRM efforts natin sa lalawigan,” he stated.
“Ang proseso natin dito pagkatapos nila ma-orient at ma-train ay i-endorse natin sila sa MDRRMO. Ang common ground namin ay magiging advocacy nila ay on disaster risk reduction,” he added.
Also during their meeting, the council adopted several resolutions that will enhance the emergency warning systems (EWS) in different municipalities and the inclusion of the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) as members of the council.
Alili said the said agencies are impotant because whenever there is a disaster they are also affected so there is also a need to address the concerns of communities that they are serving.
Board Member Ryan Maminta who chairs the Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan on the otherhand said that aside from the agencies already added,they will also include educational institutions such as Palawan State University (Palawan SU) and Western Philippines University (WPU).
“Supposed to be, WPU will be included but hindi lang umabot, hindi nakausap pero we will work out para maisama sila,” Maminta said.
Furthermore, Alili said the PDRRMC has began to implement its paradigm shift from disaster response to risk reduction and mitigation.
The PDRRMO chief said the shift has long before been needed but they focused first on response and rescue.
Maminta added that the name of the council itself speaks of focus on risk reduction with response only just a minor component.
“Kaya nga dapat mas malaki yung pondo na inilalaan sa preparedness because it includes in huge part the reduction of risks. Kasama na doon yung environmental protection, and road safety,” he explained.
