The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) announced Tuesday, March 22, that it has recently assisted 144 local government units (LGUs) to upgrade their disaster plans through the integration of accurate data, hazard maps, and risk assessments.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the implementing agency of the NDRRMC, recently conducted the fourth run of the “Coaching Sessions: GeoRiskPH-informed LDRRMP,” a comprehensive and science-based capacity building training program where participating local government officials updated their Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plans (LDRRMPs).
The coaching sessions, held from December 2021 to March 2022, brought together more than 399 LDRRM officers, planners, and implementers nationwide, according to the NDRRMC.
The event was spearheaded by the OCD in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the World Bank (WB) to serve as a platform for LGUs to review their LDRRMPs using GeoRiskPH data and to realign their plans to the new National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (NDRRMP 2020-2030).
“We want to support our LGUs in updating and upgrading their LDRRMPs to gear towards risk reduction. We want to proactively reduce the risks and not just react and manage the disasters that will come our way,” said Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, NDRRMC executive director and OCD administrator.
In 2021, the NDRRMC released Memorandum No. 38, s. 2021 to reiterate the LGUs’ use of data from GeoRiskPH for local DRRM planning.
GeoRiskPH is envisioned to be the Philippines’ central source of information for accurate and efficient hazards and risk assessment to help people, communities, LGUs, and national government agencies prepare and plan on reducing risks from natural hazards and increase the nation’s resilience.
It was led by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), funded by the DOST, and monitored by the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) from 2018 to 2020. It is now institutionalized in the DOST-PHIVOLCS.
Jalad encouraged local DRRM councils to use the platform's HazardHunterPH, GeoAnalyticsPH, and GeoMapperPH to ensure science-supported, evidence-based, and risk-based physical planning and policy making.
Through the coaching sessions, the OCD and DOST assisted technical staff of local governments to learn how to use the innovative and collaborative platform.