MALOLOS
CITY—Former Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo’s vision on
disaster preparedness must be revived, a Balik-Scientist Program (BSP) awardee
said in the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda.
It
is a very good program and I think it will be the key in community resilience
against disaster,” said Engineer Roderick Dela Cruz, a lead dam safety engineer
of the Southern California Edison (SCE) in the United States.
A
BSP awardee earlier this year, Dela Cruz was referring to the unimplemented
Seal of Disaster Preparedness (SDP) for Floods launched by Robredo at least
three months before his death in 2012.
The
SDP was meant to motivate local government units to put disaster preparedness
on top of their priority development agenda.
If
implemented, SDP,dela Cruz said could have improved capabilities of local
government units in addressing and mitigating impacts of disaster, along with
creating greater awareness and conscious on the ranks of community members.
“In
the US, the Federal Government have established disaster preparedness
program enjoining not only government
units but business corporations as well to comply,” Dela said in an Skype
interview yesterday.
The
said program, he explained is implemented all year round and government along
with members of the business community are given certificate of compliance
every year.
“It
is very similar to what Robredo would like to achieve,” he said referring to
the late secretary’s vision of institutionalizing disaster preparedness for
floods.
As
a dam safety expert who provided free consultative services to Bulacan
Provincial Government and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System
(MWSS) on the proposed Angat Dam rehabilitation, Dela Cruz highlighted
Robredo’s focus on floods.
“I
think the late secretary understood that the biggest risk to us Filipinos is
water, that’s why he focused SDP on floods,” he said.
He
explained that water related disaster risks in the Philippines have manifested
in recent calamities.
This
includes typhoon induced flood in Metro Manila in 2009, Bulacan from 2011 to
2013, in Mindanao in 2011 and 2012; and more recently in the Visayas which was
hit by super typhoon Yolanda.
“We
really have to put our heads on how to address water risks,” Dela Cruz noting
that even landslide is triggered by heavy rainfall, along with possible dam
break.
He
said that while earthquake is one of the leading causes of dam break in the
world, data showed more cases of dam break due to overtopping caused by heavy
rainfall.
Based
on data posted on the DILG website, it cited records from the Mines and
Geosciences Bureau and River Basin Control Office of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources that 1,127 out of 1,634, or 69 percent of
cities and municipalities are susceptible to river or flashfloods.
The
said data also noted that from 2009 to 2011 alone, more than P55-billion worth
of infrastructure and properties were damaged water related risk due to typhoons
like Ondoy, Pepeng and Sendong.
It
added that around 1,200 people, mostly in Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City,
also perished during due to flooding caused by typhoon Sendong in 2011.Dino
Balabo
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