DENR: Fight vs disaster risk must be on local level

Environment Assistant Secretary Rochelle Gamboa speaks during a weekly news forum. Screengrab from INQUIRER.net video / ARNEL TACSON

MANILA, Philippines – Following the closing of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) stressed the importance of planning on the local level for resiliency.

DENR Assistant Secretary Rochelle Gamboa said in a news forum Saturday, “Economic policies will have to be local-based para ang pagpaplano ng pagpapaunlad ang siyang magpapahusay ng kakayahan ng Pilipinas sa paghahanda, pagtugon at pag-recover sa mga kalamidad.”

(Economic policies will have to be local-based so that development planning will better prepare the Philippines in capacity-building for, responding to and recovering from calamities.)

Gamboa added that the conference also discussed capacity building with local government units (LGUs), more financial aid for high-risk areas, planning strategies to include vulnerable sectors and strengthening international cooperation.

At the APMCDRR closing press conference on Thursday, DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said, “This fight will be won at the local level. The level of our cities certainly because of their high populations and exposure. But also, at the level of our communities that are most exposed to the physical challenges of their geographies.”

Last September, the Philippines remained the most at-risk country to extreme weather events and climate change, according to the 2024 World Risk Report.

READ: PH still world’s most at-risk to disasters

Yulo-Loyzaga added, “So, we do need to work towards the convergence of our work in our international commitments and have that cascade and be reflected as well in our development planning.”

“It is very clear that the fight against disasters will be either won or lost at the level of cities. So, it’s really important that we put our resources, our capacities, our mechanisms there,” said Kamal Kishore, head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The UN DRR co-hosted the APMCDRR with the Philippines for this year’s conference.

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla also spoke at the forum in a panel on localizing resilience, stressing that LGUs must focus on strategic land use planning to prepare for hazards.

READ: Remulla: 188 local government dev’t plans ‘not risk-informed’

The APMCDRR was an international forum bringing together thousands of delegates from the Asia-Pacific region to focus on action to improve resilience.

It was held from Monday, October 14 to Friday, October 18 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.