Smart, CIRCA launch service for disaster prevention, response

Text messages can spell the difference between death and survival in a calamity. At the launch of the Center for Initiatives and Research on Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) Movement, Smart Communications Inc. distributed 15,000 SIM cards, enabling users to subscribe to an Infoboard service for disaster prevention and response.

Smart has partnered with the province of Albay and CIRCA to offer Infoboard, its Web-based group broadcast service. 

The CIRCA Infoboard will allow local government units to send out vital information during calamities and emergencies.

At the same time, the service’s feedback module also allows subscribers to easily send requests for government assistance during disasters.

“The deployment of Infoboard is the first of several phases of this program. We will develop communications solutions for the community, starting with the Infoboard which comes with a SIM. The idea is that once we are able to build up a database of CIRCA Infoboard subscribers, we can come up with additional services for the community. Essentially, these efforts are all meant to support community building,” says Ramon Isberto, Smart’s head of public affairs.

“What’s unique about this partnership is that we’re focusing particularly on climate change which affects not only Albay but the whole world. This partnership can actually be duplicated with other LGUs that are also trying to cope with the risks of climate change,” says James Bernas, head of Smart’s wireless consumer solutions department.

A total of 720 barangays, 18 municipalities and 15,000 CIRCA members from Albay were present during the launch of CIRCA at the Albay Astrodome.

As the implementing arm of the Albay in Action on Climate Change (A2C2) Program, CIRCA will help Albay residents cope with the risks of climate change.

It is an initiative of the provincial government of Albay and A2C2 in collaboration with Bicol University (BU) and the Environmental Management Bureau-Region 5.

Albay is no stranger to natural calamities. “It is exposed to various climate changes such as tropical cyclones. We have to prepare upland farming communities and protect watersheds, which are most vulnerable. Coastal areas must also be protected from storm surges and sea level rise,” says CIRCA Movement executive director Nong Rangasa.

To address climate change, CIRCA does research and training. “We train 720 barangays, the stakeholders, universities and colleges in the Bicol region,” adds Rangasa.

He foresees that what they’re doing in Albay will be replicated in other provinces. “We’re preparing for climate change adaptation. Action on climate change is a civic duty,” he says.

CIRCA aims to promote transparency, accountability and responsibility. Efforts to strengthen the movement are led by Albay Gov. Joey Salceda. It is also a response to President Arroyo’s memorandum encouraging all local officials to implement climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

All 15,000 CIRCA members received SIM cards preloaded with P30, allowing them to subscribe to the Infoboard service. Once registered into the service, they will have access to all announcements and advisories of the CIRCA Infoboard.

Rangasa says, “The Infoboard will help in disseminating quickly the right information from the office to the community.”

He says CIRCA plans to promote the usage of the Infoboard by holding a road show in every barangay.

“This will help ensure the program’s continuity. We’d like to inform everyone from the President (to officials of) all the other provinces that we’re here! We came up with ‘green rally’ first through SMS,” he adds.

CIRCA is also signing up as a sub-dealer for Smart E-Load and then as a retailer, to help financially sustain the program so that it can continue its work in relation to climate change and disaster prevention.