黑料社

(First of two parts)

MANILA, Philippines鈥擣ollowing the damage and casualties caused by strong typhoons that battered the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced a plan to improve the country鈥檚 disaster risk and response system.

However, an expert believes there is much more to be done to truly make a difference in how the country manages and reduces risks of disasters and hazards.

Earlier this month, Marcos made public his plan to place the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) under the supervision of the Office of the President (OP)鈥斺�渁 suggestion that has been going around for many years.鈥�

鈥淚 think that overall, we can say that the response to the disasters鈥攖he disaster response has been a good one,鈥� said Marcos.

鈥淗owever, I believe that there are ways when we can even make it more streamlined,鈥� he told reporters during a visit to Tacloban City for the ninth-year commemoration of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), the strongest typhoon to make landfall in recent memory.

Marcos said the government is continuing efforts to refine the procedures, processes, and organization. He added that placing the NDRRMC under the Office of the President (OP) would make it a 鈥渕ore robust system.鈥�

READ: Moving NDRRMC to Office of the President: What difference will it make?

The President, however, did not explain how he would handle the agency鈥攚hich would be added to his responsibilities as President and secretary of agriculture鈥攖o make disaster response 鈥渕ore streamlined.鈥�

According to political science professor Gerardo Eusebio, moving the NDRRMC under close management and accessibility to the OP 鈥渨ould make the fulfillment of its task with greater efficiency.鈥�

Strengthen, empower local gov鈥檛

When asked if the plan would make a difference in the country鈥檚 disaster response and risk reduction management, Timothy James Cipriano鈥攁 geographer and professor whose research focuses on hazards and disasters鈥攕aid he believes otherwise.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to ask me whether it could make a difference, I don鈥檛 think it will. Maybe to a certain extent, it鈥檚 possible,鈥� Cipriano told聽

鈥淚鈥檓 not sure how exactly [Marcos Jr.] will make [NDRRMC] more robust [鈥�] how exactly he will improve coordination in terms of disasters,鈥� he added.

Cipriano stressed that although the country has made strides in disaster risk and preparedness since the creation of NDRRMC after Republic Act (RA) No. 10121 became law, there are still many things to be considered and issues to be addressed.

鈥淭here鈥檚 so much to be desired in terms of implementing on the dot what the law says,鈥� Cipriano said, emphasizing that 鈥渢here鈥檚 less emphasis on community efforts, although it is being recognized by the law that there is a need for community or grassroots efforts for us to reduce disaster risks.鈥�

Under Section 3(e) of RA 10121, Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction and Management or CBDRRM, is defined as 鈥渁 process of disaster risk reduction and management in which at risk communities are actively engaged in the identification, analysis, treatment, monitoring and evaluation of disaster risks in order to reduce their vulnerabilities and enhance their capacities, and where the people are at the heart of decision-making and implementation of disaster risk reduction and management activities.鈥�

Several parts of the law also emphasized the role of NDRRMC in monitoring and providing necessary guidelines and procedures on Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (LDRRM).

Among the powers and functions of the agency, as stated in Section 6 of the law, include:

• 鈥淒evelop vertical and horizontal coordination mechanisms for a more coherent implementation of disaster risk reduction and management policies and programs by sectoral agencies and LGUs鈥�
• 鈥淔ormulate a national institutional capability building program for disaster risk reduction and management to address the specific weaknesses of various government agencies and LGUs, based on the results of a biennial baseline assessment and studies[.].鈥�

Section 15 also stated that the NDRRMC and the intermediary Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (LDRRMCs) must always extend their support to local government units (LGUs)鈥攚hich act as first disaster responders.

According to Cipriano, there is a need to strengthen the country鈥檚 local response system.

鈥淲e need to empower the local governments further [because] they are the first responders,鈥� he said.

鈥淸Since the] local government units are the first respondents, most of the resources must be allocated towards them. We鈥檙e not just talking about funding. Rather, we鈥檙e also talking about personnel,鈥� he added.

He also stressed the need for better risk assessment at municipal and barangay levels鈥攚hile taking into account climate change projections鈥攚hich will then be integrated into the disaster risk reduction plans, land use plans, comprehensive development plans, and all the plans the national government requires of LGUs.

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what we need more. We need to strengthen our local response system further.鈥�

Framing disasters

Another reason cited by Cipriano on why it is unclear whether the President鈥檚 plan to move NDRRMC under OP would make a difference is how disasters are currently being seen or framed.

鈥淎s a geographer, I鈥檓 not really sure how it will make a difference because [of] the way we frame disasters. The way we frame disasters, even at the global scale, is that it is a one-off event,鈥� he said.

鈥淟ike once a disaster ended, we [automatically] go back to our [day-to-day] lives. But in fact, there are what we call compounding hazards that also lead to complex disasters,鈥� he continued.

Disasters, as defined by RA 10121, are the result of the combination of exposure to a hazard, the conditions of vulnerability that are present, and insufficient capacity or measures to reduce or cope with the potential negative consequences.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) emphasized that 鈥渢here are no such things as natural disasters.鈥� However, it believes that disasters often follow natural hazards.

The UNDRR considers disaster risk as the combination of the severity and frequency of a hazard, the number of people and assets that are exposed to the hazard, and their vulnerability to damage.

鈥淭he key to understanding disaster risk is by recognizing that disasters are an indicator of development failures, meaning that disaster risk is a measure of the sustainability of development,鈥� the UNDRR explained.

鈥淗azard, vulnerability, and exposure are influenced by a number of risk drivers, including poverty and inequality, badly planned and managed urban and regional development, climate change, and environmental degradation,鈥� it added.

While Cipriano stresses the need to see hazards as interacting events, he believes that the country鈥檚 disaster risk reduction and management systems still need to be prepared to deal with those interacting events and complex disasters.

鈥淲e see disasters as a one-off event that happens, [and then] after that, we recover,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 think it is crucial [to examine] how we see disasters. Do we see disasters as a one-off event, or do we see disasters as something that is lingering and is affecting our lives for a longer period,鈥� Cipriano emphasized.

Invest in key development issues

Aside from understanding how disasters are framed, Cipriano also noted that the country should invest more in long-term plans for disaster risk reduction management rather than just focusing too much on response alone.

According to the UNDRR, disaster risk reduction or dealing with disasters has been historically focused on emergency response.

However, as more people recognize disasters as something that is not natural, UNDRR noted that 鈥溌爄t is only by reducing and managing conditions of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability that we can prevent losses and alleviate the impacts of disasters.鈥�

鈥淪ince we cannot reduce the severity of natural hazards, the main opportunity for reducing risk lies in reducing vulnerability and exposure,鈥� the UN agency said.

鈥淩educing these two components of risk requires identifying and reducing the underlying drivers of risk, which are particularly related to poor economic and urban development choices and practice, degradation of the environment, poverty and inequality, and climate change, which create and exacerbate conditions of聽hazard,聽exposure, and聽vulnerability,鈥� it added.

By addressing these underlying risk drivers, UNDRR believes disaster risks could be reduced. It could also help lessen the impacts of climate change and maintain the sustainability of development.

Based on the World Risk Report 2022 by Germany-based B眉ndnis Entwicklung Hilft and the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict at Ruhr University Bochum (IFHV), the Philippines鈥攐ut of 193 countries鈥攈ad the highest disaster risk, with an index score of 46.82.

The current iteration of the WorldRiskIndex also noted that it had been updated, which now follows 100 indicators compared to the previous 27.

鈥淚n particular, the inclusion of indicators on how populations have been affected by disasters and conflicts in the past five years, as well as on refugees, displaced persons, and asylum seekers in the new index鈥攁lso against the backdrop of the major global migration movements鈥攔esults in a significantly more accurate representation of the realities of life in many countries,鈥� said IFHV Research Associate聽Daniel Weller.

The WorldRiskIndex also considered that aside from the occurrence, intensity, and duration of extreme natural events, disaster risks are also shaped by social factors, political conditions, and economic structures.

READ: PH most disaster-prone country in the world鈥攕tudy

鈥淎s long as we don鈥檛 invest in key development issues such as poverty [and] inequality,鈥� Cipriano said, 鈥渨e remain to be the riskiest country in the world.鈥�

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 invest in development and if we don鈥檛 see development as part of disaster risk reduction efforts, then we always end up rebuilding after every single disaster,鈥� he added.

鈥淸W]e always end up rebuilding after every disaster, and this one hurts the most because even if we have good laws on DRR (disaster risk reduction), it鈥檚 just a matter of implementing,鈥� he continued.

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