MANILA, Philippines?The Department of Interior and Local Government has given local government units (LGUs) a week to draft disaster rescue plans for use in times of floods, Secretary Ronaldo Puno said on Friday.

The disaster rescue plan, Puno said, would consist of disaster risk assessment, identification of flood-prone areas, and the reposition of government rescue equipment like rescue boats and fire trucks.

Puno, speaking to reporters after a meeting with local government officials at Camp Crame, said that the rescue plan would eventually be submitted to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for approval.

"The lessons learned from 'Ondoy' is that we have to upgrade our rescue capabilities," Puno said, as some villages in a number of Metro Manila cities remain submerged in flood waters until this time.

"Global warming and climate change have produced permanent changes we have to adapt to it. We have to wake up and realize that this is not bad luck. This is the reality," he added.

Puno identified some of the flood-prone areas as Pangasinan, coastal areas in Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, and key Metro Manila cities like Marikina and Pasig.

Flood waters in Marikina rose to as high as 25 meters as "Ondoy" dumped rains in the capital.

But the plan only involves flood situations.

Puno said this was because responding to flood situations was most difficult compared to landslides.

"The rescue work during landslides is different because you only rescue a small group of people and, assuming there is no flood, you can easily bring the rescue team there. But as what happened in 'Ondoy,' rescue teams were unable to get to where they wanted to go because of the waters," he added.

Puno said he has also ordered the speedy procurement process of rescue equipment in preparation for other calamities.

"We?re speeding up deliveries of procurements of rubber boats and different assets to place them in areas where they don't need to move so much during times of emergencies," he added.

Puno said he cut short his United States trip to meet with local executives on how to improve their rescue capabilities.

He also lashed back at critics who hit the supposed under-preparedness of government in responding to calamities.

"How can you be prepared for something that happened for the first time in 50 years?" He said.