88 towns, cities not ready for calamities

NO town or city in Central Visayas is ready to mitigate the onslaught of massive flooding, an official of the regional office of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG-7) said yesterday.

Virgie Clapano, chief of the Local Government Capacity Development Division of DILG-7, said based on the results of the national profiling and assessment of disaster preparedness of local government units (LGUs) that the DILG conducted in the region, not a single town or city in Central Visayas that was tagged as a “flood-prone area” passed the assessment.

The identification of flood-prone areas was done by the Department of Environment and Natural Resouces (DENR) through the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

“The assessment was done so that the DILG can provide interventions and monitor the improvements of the LGUs. But there’s still a long way to go especially after Yolanda,” she said in her presentation yesterday.

Clapano was one of the speakers in the two-day roadshow “Iba na ang Panahon: Science for Safer Communities” of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and DILG which was held in Cebu City last Monday.

Assessment

None of the 88 LGUs assessed by the DILG were found to have sufficient measures in case of heavy flooding, Clapano said.

Of the number, 33 are in Bohol, 21 in Cebu, 26 in Negros Oriental and five in Siquijor. Three cities classified as highly-urbanized were among those listed.

The indicators or criteria of the assessment was based on the requirements of Republic Act 10121 or An Act Providing for the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System in the country.

She said the requirements stated under the Act must be supported with verifications, assessment of performance gaps and necessary equipment.

Clapano said only 84 out of 136 cities and towns ‘in Central Visayas have set up their own disaster risk reduction and management offices (DRRM) with only 59 of these having DRRM officers and only 40 with a complete administration staff.

Constraints

Only 54 of the cities have maps to identify barangays with flood-prone areas and the same number formed an emergency response team.

Clapano said only 20 local governments have equipment to monitor and gauge rainwater, audio signaling devices and evacuation alert systems.

Regional DILG Director Ananias Villacorta said “it is easy to set up a DRRM office but difficult to appoint an officer.”

He said small towns cannot afford to designate a DRRM officer due to budget constraints and personnel limitations set by the Local Government Code.