Disaster training goes to regions

Science Secretary Mario Montejo: Teaching risk monitoring and planning. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Beginning Monday, the government will bring training resources for disaster preparedness to local officials in 17 regions nationwide.

The activity, dubbed “Iba na ang Panahon: Science for Safer Communities,” is aimed at preventing a repeat of the devastation wrought by Super Typhoon Yolanda.

It will be jointly conducted by the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, in coordination with the Office of Civil Defense.

Science Secretary Mario Montejo said on Saturday the training resources, to be delivered to the regions from March 3 to May 23, would teach the participants about risk monitoring, planning and action.

“We will teach them how to put science in disaster planning and preparation,” he said.

Montejo said the training modules were based on the country’s experiences with Yolanda and calamities prior to that.

The training in each locality, he said, would depend on that area’s hazard vulnerability.—Kristine Felisse Mangunay