‘Yolanda’ now new Central Luzon disaster model

CHILDREN play in a tent that has become their home in Tacloban City following the devastation left by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.” Officials in Luzon believe that the scene can be repeated many times over elsewhere as Yolanda-type storms become the norm. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

CLARK FREEPORT, Philippines—Super Typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan), which devastated the Visayas in November last year, has become the model for the worst disaster that may hit Central Luzon, after Mt. Pinatubo’s 1991 eruptions brought the region down to its knees.

Josefina Timoteo, chair of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) and head of the Office of the Civil Defense in the region, set this framework as she encouraged local disaster risk reduction and management councils (DRRMCs) to “build capacities that can respond to disasters of Yolanda’s magnitude.”

“Our thrust should be … to make safe, adaptive and resilient communities,” Timoteo said at a summit that gathered the Pampanga province DRRMC and its counterparts in 19 towns, two cities and 505 villages.

The provincial summits, she said, were the idea of Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin to firm up plans in preventing and responding to disasters. Summits have been held in Bataan and Aurora provinces and are scheduled in other Central Luzon provinces this month.

Timoteo said the destruction caused by Yolanda could help the more than 10 million residents in the region anticipate the worst events and prepare for these.

Mild rains are a thing of the past now, she said. The major hazards in the region are floods, earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, storm surges and volcanic eruptions, the RDRRMC said in its 2014-2016 plan.

Death toll

Storm surges and strong winds spawned by Yolanda on Nov. 8 last year killed more than 6,000 people. Based on estimates, Mt. Pinatubo’s blasts and lahar flows killed less than 5,000 people in the region in 1991.

The Central Luzon provinces of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales were not spared from strong typhoons either, she said, referring to Typhoons “Labuyo,” “Maring” and “Santi” in 2013.

Timoteo said 3,102 DRRMCs had been organized in villages in the region, and their actual level of preparedness was being assessed.

The creation of barangay (village) and local DRRMCs by legislative councils and the appointment of DRRMC officers have been mandated under Joint Memorandum Cricular No. 2014-1 issued on April 4. This strengthens Republic Act No. 10121 (Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010) and sustains preparedness measures in communities.

More search-and-rescue trainings can be invested on DRRMC personnel although village chiefs serve a term of only six years, officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government said.

Detailed hazard maps are being completed by national government agencies, officials said.

Funds

Timoteo said the law’s provision allowing 70 percent of the 5-percent DRRMC fund to be spent on the procurement of equipment and on mitigation measures, like desilting of waterways, helped local governments prepare for disasters.

The remaining 30 percent is set aside for quick response funds when disasters strike. The DRRMC fund is to be taken from the regular revenue of local governments.

Government auditors spoke at the summit to clarify which items are covered by the DRRMC fund.

In the same summit, Timoteo announced that Pampanga was chosen as the best provincial DRRMC in Central Luzon because it has more than sufficient equipment, tools and training for search, rescue, evacuation and first aid.

Pampanga DRRMC officer Angelina Blanco said they had urged local legislative councils to pass resolutions that authorize the police and the military to do forced evacuation of residents in high-risk areas. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon