Province to hold more seminars on disaster management

THE Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) will conduct more orientations and seminars on disaster management for all the local government units, schools, and other private groups next year.

PDRRMO head Baltazar Tribunalo said that for this year, they conducted disaster management seminars to 44 municipalities and seven cities in the province. The office was also tapped by the local governments of Masbate City, Zamboanga City, Davao City and Surigao City to hold orientations and seminars in their areas.

Tribunalo said the PDRRMO has also engaged the 2,700 youths, 1,250 priests and lay ministers, 925 teachers, and 4,650 cooperative members in disaster management seminar this year.

Tribunalo said they also conducted the first water summit in the province.

“We have also provided typhoon assistance to some municipalities in the province. We also conducted search, rescue, and retrieval operations on capsized MV Kim Nirvana,” he said.

The motorized outrigger was carrying 173 passengers and 16 crew when it capsized minutes after leaving the Ormoc port on its way to Camotes Islands at past 12 p.m. last July 2.
At least 36 people were confirmed dead from the sea tragedy.

Tribunalo said that PDRRMO also joined several international events, such as the United Nations Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction at Sendai, Japan this year. He also said that they have prepared a one-year El Niño response plan for 2016.

“Forty-three municipalities already have local disaster risk reduction management (LDRRM) councils and 42 of these already have their LDRRM plans,” he said.

He also said that only 20 local government units in the province have Climate Change Adaptation plans.