Mayors warned vs negligence in disasters

BACOLOR, Pampanga—The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday reminded mayors in Central Luzon region that dereliction of duty or negligence in their work to save lives during disasters could bar them from running for public office.

During the launch here of disaster preparedness manuals for mayors, Florida Dijan, DILG regional director, said briefings after the launch of the manuals in the region’s 14 cities and 116 towns in March will explain the administrative liabilities of mayors in disaster response management.

Dijan said Republic Act No. 10121 (Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010) makes local governments and their heads the front liners in that task.

The manuals consist of two checklists for mayors. One is for minimum critical preparations while another is for early preparations. A third manual is for DILG field personnel, police chiefs and fire marshals.

The checklists also assign codes, such as “Alpha” and “Bravo” for towns or cities that are 100 kilometers and 50 km, respectively, from the eye of a storm, and “Charlie” for areas along the actual track of a typhoon.

Dijan said mayors are expected to comply with the detailed course of actions in the manuals, which were produced from lessons learned during the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) in 2013 and other calamities.

She said the DILG is hoping that, through the distribution of the manuals, local governments would attain “zero casualty” in times of disaster.

Central Luzon is prone to flooding, earthquake, landslide and tsunami, according to a plan prepared by the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in 2014.

Dijan said most local governments are also aiming to build permanent evacuation centers to avoid disrupting classes in schools that are usually used as evacuation centers.

Those setting up permanent facilities are required to get certifications from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to determine the areas’ safety, she said. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon