The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) assured on Saturday its continuous monitoring of weather conditions and close coordination with Local Government Units (LGUs) to protect the safety and welfare of Filipinos amid calamities.
“Sa ngayon po, patuloy iyong ating pagmo-monitor, pagku-coordinate sa ating mga lokal na pamahalaan kasi ‘yun po ang ating mainstay at hindi po tayo nagbaba ng ating… we did not lower down our guard para mas matutukan po natin ‘yung pangangailangan dahil bukod po doon sa mismong weather disturbance ay mayroon po itong dala-dalang marami pong ulan,” OCD Director Ed Posadas said in a news forum in Quezon City.
According to Posadas, the OCD is urging the public to make preparations, citing that the eastern and western seaboard of the country, up to portions of Western Visayas and Western Mindanao, are currently experiencing adverse weather conditions.
In terms of mobilizing LGUs, particularly local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (DRRMCs), Posadas stressed the importance of coordination and maximizing online platforms.
“Iyong koordinasyon po very important ‘no, we maximize the availability po ng social media, iyong mga chat groups natin na ‘yung redundancy of information,” Posadas said.
“At nagpapasalamat po kami dahil, siguro non-negotiable po ‘yung paghahanda, sir, so tumaas na po ang kamalayan at paghahanda ng ating mga lokal na pamahalaan. They invest on their own rescue teams, hindi lang ‘yung equipment but ‘yung tao, ‘yung training, ‘yung iba po, pati sa plantilla positions para may institutionalization,” he added.
Posadas said they are also working closely with their civilian counterpart, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), with the help of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
During peacetime, the OCD guarantees that LGUs engage in capacity-building measures such as community-based disaster risk reduction and management training.
“And we also provide the trainings po … para mas alam nila ‘yung kanilang responsibility at kung papaano nila papatakbuhin po ‘yung kanilang plano in terms of (disaster risk reduction and management),” the OCD official said. PND
