Aside from physical, psycho-social and financial reconstruction, another current concern of Barangay Maybunga, the Pasig LGU and some of the households in WMF is how to prepare for future disasters and reduce risk to life and property.
Brgy DRRMC. At the barangay level, a Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (BDRRMC) is already set up. It is headed by the barangay captain and composed of 3 barangay kagawad. Presently, it has a PhP 800,000 funding allocation. A community-based DRM Plan identifies the disaster team and propose disaster risk management practices or the things to do before, during and after the disasters. It also lists evacuation centers and safe pick-up points for the stranded. Serving like an operations manual, the plan details the evacuation process as well as the duties and responsibilities of the council members.
Available logistics include paraphernalia for fire, earthquake and floods as well as transportation & communication/monitoring equipments like radio and cell phones. CCTVs c/o the LGU had also been installed within the barangay and along the floodway. Trainings and seminars about the DRM plan have been conducted for the barangay leaders and, according to the barangay captain, videos presentations and flyers are available for information dissemination.
City DRRMC. The Barangay preparations have been largely spurred by initiatives at the city level. Since 1995, Pasig City had a volunteer rescue group in charge of calamity response and other emergencies with around 150 volunteers. In 2007, this group was institutionalized with thirty (30) regular employees aside from the volunteers and was called Communications Command Center (C3).
Prior to Ondoy, C3 had the following : a rescue unit with rubber and fire boats, centralized radio system, CCTVs in several street corners and waterways for monitoring, a Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system operated at the command center, evacuation tents with matting, protocols, human resource systems and operations manual for disaster response were available and, seminars and trainings on these were mandatory to C3 personnel.
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During Ondoy, C3 personnel and volunteers although shaken at first followed operations protocol and responded 24/7. Aside from conducting search and rescue, transporting evacuees, relief distribution and medical missions[1] C3 activities in the recovery and reconstruction phase included pumping water out of the city[2], sanitation of flood waters to prevent leptospirosis and other diseases, clearing out debris and the Resettlement and Relocation and Balik Probinsiya Programs.
In 2009, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) awarded the Gawad Kalasag Best Governance and Emergency Management award to Pasig City C3 in the NCR category. In 2010, they were awarded as the best nationwide. Mr. Richie Van Angeles, head of C3 attributes their effectiveness to the political will of Mayor Bobby Eusebio who is said to understand the importance of disaster risk reduction and management and gives priority to disaster readiness.
Today, C3 stands as the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CDRRMC) and has revised organizational structure and functions to include other national government agencies and civil society organizations. In the next months, the Pasig C3/CDRRMC plans to conduct GIS and aerial mapping to identify disaster-prone areas in city and update hazard maps, disseminate IEC Materials and provide compulsory one-hour training on disaster preparedness to every household, purchase more equipment like rubber boats, CCTV cameras, wide-area notification/ warning system and create the Pasig Rescue Emergency Disaster (RED) Training Center which is an educational facility for disaster response practitioners which will cater not only to Pasig City government staff but later also to those from other cities and municipalities in the Philippines.
Despite these activities and even if respondents related stories about receiving aid during calamity, the WMF community was not aware of an overall disaster preparedness plan in the city and barangay levels. This may be attributed to the fact that grass-roots information dissemination has yet to be strengthened in Pasig in terms of DRRM.
Several NGOs also help in preparing the community for disasters. WFMNAI and SKNF leaders have been trained by COM and partner institutions about DRRM and are still in the process of creating a DRRM committee composed of 2 members each from block 1 to 9.
[1] A week after Ondoy, a temporary Field Hospital was established in Maybunga because the hospitals in Pasig were already full. The Pasig LGU coordinated with Medical City and Mandaluyong General Hospital in the provision of medical services.
[2] Fifteen (15) portable pumps were strategically placed to help pump out flood water from the city.
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This is my last cheat, I promise.
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