UN awardee to LGUS: “Heighten disaster awareness”

CEBU, Philippines - International awardee on disaster preparedness and former San Francisco, Camotes mayor Alfredo Arquillano has urged other local government units to put disaster risk reduction as their top priority.

Though calamities are unpredictable, Arquillano stressed that LGUs should be better prepared by increasing the level of awareness and building resiliency  from the grassroot level.

“Nindot nga opportunity karon, sugod sa tuig. Iapil dapat na (DRR) nga una sa mga priorities. How to increase the level of awareness, reduce exposure and vulnerability… Funding is not an issue,” he added.

He pointed out the situation in Tacloban City which could be the benchmark of how LGUs prepare for the next weather event to come.

“I saw firsthand the magnitude of the devastation and it is beyond my imagination,” he said.

After the typhoon Yolanda pounded Eastern part of Leyte as it made its landfall, a high number of casualties was recorded in the area.

Arquillano said that in a meeting with the DRR management in Tacloban City, he learned that some people did not heed the advice of the authorities.

“Ang uban kompyansa daw. Pero responsibility pod na sa kadagkoan unsaon pagpasabot nila, ” he added citing the storm surge as an example.

In his town, Arquillano said that authorities encountered no problem in calling for an evacuation three days before Yolanda struck the island.

“Because we have made disaster risk reduction a primary priority in our government… People from near or far-flung areas already knew where evacuation centers were and what to do during evacuation,” he stated.

San Francisco town, under Arquillano’s term, was recognized as a role model by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) in a highly hazard-prone part of the world.

In 2011, San Francisco won UN’s Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction for its community work based on “purok” system, a sub-organizations in villages.

Arquillano said that evacuation drills, as well as fire and earthquake drills, were done on a regular basis through the purok.

He, however, admitted that their effort in disaster preparedness is not enough considering  that there is still problem in relocation that the government has to address.

“Naay gusto gyod mobalik sa ilang lugar kay tungod sa ilang panginabuhian,” he said adding that people are no longer allowed to build houses in danger zones.

“This is a challenge of the local and national government on how to address this,” he reiterated.

Meanwhile, 500 houses will soon be built in two barangays in Bogo City while 150 piglets for livelihood will also be distributed in the affected families.

Mayor Celestino Martinez Jr. said that the funds used in the reconstruction were pledged by private organizations.

The 300 houses will be built in barangays La Paz and Cayang in Bogo City while 200 in Pulangbato.

On January 15, the 20 houses are set to be turned over to the families at Yolanda Village in Barangay La Paz.

Also on the same date, five families in each of the 14 identified barangays in Bogo City will also be given two piglets as part of the livelihood  project.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) earlier entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Province of Cebu where the organization allotted more than P1 million for the rehabilitation of livelihood assets in Bogo City.— (FREEMAN)