Sanchez out as disaster office chief

HANDS ON. In this Nov. 9 photo, Gov. Hilario Davide III confers with San Remigio Mayor Mariano Martinez as they inspect the damage left by supertyphoon Yolanda.

Gov. Hilario Davide III announced yesterday that he will reorganize the province’s disaster risk reduction and management office and appoint a new head.

The governor said he plans to integrate the Provincial Disaster Risk and Management Office (PDRRMO) with the supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan) rehabilitation body Task Force Paglig-on.

There will also be changing of the guard in the disaster office as Davide is set to appoint TF Paglig-on head Baltazar Tribunalo Jr. to head the PDRRMO, easing out current head, Neil Angelo Sanchez.

But Tribunalo’s appointment will have to wait after the one-year ban on candidates of the last election assuming a regular government position. Tribunalo ran as an independent candidate for councilor in Balamdan town last year, but lost.

Tribunalo is an expert in disaster preparedness and had worked in the UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs. Among his postings were in the post-2004-tsunami response in Indonesia and the response to cyclone Nargis in 2008. Both disasters claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

Tribunalo’s expertise on disaster preparedness and risk reduction, Davide said will also help Cebu change its response-oriented approach during calamities.

Asked about the performance of Sanchez, Davide said the current PDRMMO head did “okay” in responding to the string of calamities that hit Cebu last year.

However, he said he preferred Tribunalo for the position since Sanchez’s expertise is more on “response” to calamities.

“He’s been doing okay. He was really involved during Yolanda even with the ship collision in August. His expertise was more on response but our focus must shift to disaster preparedness,” Davide said he is open to re-appointing Sanchez as a deputy officer of the office under Tribunalo.

Sanchez he has no issues with the governor’s plans but hopes he would still be able to work in the disaster office in another capacity.

During Sanchez’s stint as head of the PDRRMO, a number of disasters and calamities struck Cebu including supertyphoon Yolanda, the Oct. 15 7.2-magnitude earthquake and the August 16 sinking off the coast of Talisay City of the MV St. Thomas Aquinas.

Former governor and now Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia (Cebu, third district) appointed Sanchez in the last quarter of 2012 and Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale re-appointed him on Feb. 19 last year.