Experts urged authorities to deal with Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) at the local level to help ensure that the strategies in place would be implemented more effectively.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), in a statement issued Wednesday, June 9, cited inputs of experts based on the study conducted by the researchers from Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT).

Nimfa L. Bracamonte, project leader of the study on Disaster Management Towards Climate Change Adaptation in Two River Systems in Iligan City, said that DRRM remains a “continuing global challenge that needs to be addressed at the local level.”

Bracamonte shared this said in the recently concluded Mindanao Policy Forum on National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) Research-based DRRM Policies: Keeping Everyone Safe. The forum was organized and conducted by the DOST– NRCP which also funded the study.

DRRM is a term adopted by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and used locally in line with Republic Act (RA) 10121 of 2010 that strengthens the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System, provides for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Framework and institutionalizes the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan in the country.

DOST noted that the study conducted by the researchers from MSU-IIT was a response to the city’s experience with typhoon “Sendong” (international name: Tropical Storm Washi) in December 2011.

Typhoon “Sendong” left 29 of the 44 barangays in Iligan City badly affected by the typhoon - resulting in the loss of thousands of lives and costly damage to properties, infrastructures and livelihood.

DOST said that the research covered four barangays in Iligan City: Pala-o; Puguan; Mandulog; and Hinaplanon. It also involved 518 informants, of whom over 50 percent were housekeepers and the sources of income largely came from private employment, construction, and farming.

Based on respondents’ interviews, Bracamonte said that the Iligan residents “were taken by surprise” by the intensity of “Sendong” because the city is not “usually a typhoon hit area.” Meanwhile, MSU professor Amabelle Embornas shared in the forum her recollection of her family’s typhoon “Sendong” experience, which she considered traumatic.

Embornas, a member of the research team, said that although her family heard about the storm from DOST-PAGASA, “they initially took it lightly since typhoons didn’t leave much of a negative impact usually in Iligan.” However, Embornas noted as the water began to rise, her family evacuated and spent the night in a hotel.

Upon their return the following morning, they witnessed the devastation brought by the flashflood that left dead bodies lying by the roadside, severely damaged houses in the neighborhood, and their own house was covered by fallen trees. “It’s a tragic event that could’ve been prevented,” she said.

According to Science Direct “Washi” was recorded as the world's second most deadly disaster in 2011. It landed along the east coast of Mindanao, causing 1,292 deaths, 1,049 missing, 2,002 injured, and a total of 695,195 people (110,806 families) affected.

Among the findings of the study is that the respondents’ awareness of typhoons and its accompanying risks “improved” when typhoon Pablo hit the same area in 2012. “The increase in awareness was evident both at the household and barangay levels,” the researchers noted.

The research team, of which the two other members are Dr. Liwayway S. Viloria and Dr. Sulpecia L. Ponce, proposed four resolutions to be adopted specific to the City of Iligan: on disaster preparedness; on the response during disasters; on recovery and rehabilitation; and on disaster prevention and mitigation.

Meanwhile, DOST Secretary Fortunato T. dela Peña recognized the contribution of the researchers in DRRM efforts of the government.