By Jose Santino Bunachita
PIO Reporter
LA FORTUNA HOTEL, Cebu City(Sept. 5, 2022) — Barangay officials and city government departments’ representatives underwent a seminar on community-based disaster risk reduction and management (CBDRRM) here today.
CBDRRM is defined as a process in which at-risk communities are actively engaged in the identification, analysis, treatment, monitoring, and evaluation of disaster risks to reduce their vulnerabilities and enhance their capacities.
Through CBDRRM, community members are able to collectively reduce and manage disaster risks on their own even without depending on external help.
Atty. Gerardo Carillo, Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chairman, said the seminar was organized to equip participants with skills to immediately respond to disasters and calamities.
“At any given time, ang mga barangays ang first responders sa disasters. That’s the reason why naa mo dinhi. Kay sagad usahay, magkabuang ‘ta’g responde kay dili ta organized,” he said.
He cited as example fire incidents, when barangay responders immediately use Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) hydrants and stub-outs without coordinating first with the agency. This, Carillo said, results to MCWD usually experiencing problems in providing additional water pressure in a certain area.
He said barangays have to know when and how to coordinate with the right agencies at the city level, as well as with national government agencies, during disasters, for smoother implementation of response measures.
The Office of the Civil Defense facilitated the three-day seminar, which started today.
The participants included barangay councilors, members of barangay disaster councils and response teams, and representatives from a few city government departments and offices. #
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