Preventing Armaggedon
By Leilani Chavez, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/20/2009 3:15 PM
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Two disaster prone communities show the value of being prepared in the face of natural hazards
MANILA – Dagupan goes down in history as the milkfish capital of the country, producing 35,500 tons of milkfish every year. But such distinction has its consequences. The prime sources of livelihood, Pantal River and Lingayen Gulf, produce the worst floods in the city, taking lives and properties every year.
“History tells us that if rain pours continuously for 2 to 3 days in Dagupan, there will be flooding,” Emma Molina, city agriculturist, shared with abs-cbnNEWS.com.
History likewise prepared the locals for the yearly grievances. When typhoon Cosme (international name Halong) hit Dagupan in 2008 bringing strong winds, it took 4 lives, ruined 5,000 houses, and damaged P550 million-worth of fisheries.
Recently, the city underwent a week-long onslaught from Pepeng (Parma) which produced the worst flooding in Dagupan in 5 years.
Flooding was caused by the overflowing of the gulf during monsoon season. There are 7 rivers that literally flow through the city and empty out on the gulf through the Pantal River. During typhoons and high tides, the current changes and the waters inundate the locals’ houses.
Caption: Map of Dagupan City in Pangasinan that shows the river system along the city and its 34 barangays. (mapcentral.ph)
“Flooding is a way of life,” Molina said. It has always been the premier problem in fishing towns, she added.
Geographically, flooding cannot be avoided in Dagupan. The local government unit, then, focuses on saving the lives of the locals through disaster preparedness measures.
The city has been collating the flooding history of the city and its 31 barangays. Recent data showed that in areas where there are surviving disaster risk management programs, there are zero casualties, Molina shared.
Risk management
Pepeng’s fury tested the city’s budding disaster risk management program.
In 2006, Dagupan became the target site of Project PROMISE (Program for Hydro-Meteorological Disaster Mitigation in Secondary Cities in Asia), a program that aims to minimize the impact of hydrological hazards in various high-risk cities in Asia.
The program, which was piloted in 8 high-risk barangays in Dagupan—Manalingling, Tambac, Bolosan, Salisay, Mangin, Tebeng, Bacayao Norte, and Bacayao Sur—helped local officials in these areas come up with disaster preparedness measures based on hazards that each locale is vulnerable to.
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| AB Fernandez St. During Pepeng's onslaught [Sent to ireport by Jea Cute.] |
Completed in 2008, the program helped the LGUs mitigate the impact of Pepeng in their respective areas.
When Pepeng hit Pangasinan on October 3, Molina shared that the city conducted 19 pre-emptive evacuations and locals stayed for 4 days in their designated evacuation sites and returned home only when the rains have subsided.
But when Pepeng returned for a second landfall on October 7, some of the barangays requested another set of pre-emptive evacuation because the locals are wary that they might wake up underwater during the night, Molina narrated.
“It was at its best during Pepeng. We had zero casualties, and that is the primary aim of the program,” Molina said.
And the best part of it is that the program in Dagupan did not cost much, according to Malu Cagay, managing director of the Center for Disaster Preparedness. She gave a rough estimate of P5 million for training, information dissemination, emergency preparedness and disaster response.
Likewise, Project-PROMISE inspired the city to systematize its own disaster preparedness program, which was awarded this year’s Gawad Kalasag, an award given by the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) to recognize individuals, groups or institutions that have shown extraordinary courage, heroism, self-sacrifice, and bravery in times of natural and human-induced emergencies and disasters.
The project was funded by the United States Agency International Development through the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center. Aside from the 8 barangays, the city is allotting resources in strengthening DRM in 5 other barangays in Dagupan after Pepeng.
Before the project, Dagupan has no systematized DRM. Molina said the city only had a response, relief, and rehabilitate program in the past.
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| Even Pepeng can't stop the deliveries of Dagupan's special bangus [Multiply user Jerome, Boto Mo iPatrol Mo Multiply site] |
Local responsibility
When typhoons hit Manila and Northern Luzon in the previous 2 weeks, many blamed the limitations of the calamity fund and the inefficiency of the national government in providing rescue and relief operations.
But before local chiefs start pointing fingers, Cagay said officials should look into their own areas and see if they have done their part. “Local disaster preparation and rescue are responsibilities of the barangay and the municipalities,” she told abs-cbnNEWS.com in an interview.
As typhoons affect various areas differently, the Barangay Disaster Coordinating Councils (BDCC) are responsible for creating a localized disaster plan for communities.
Disaster plans outline a series of comprehensive plan of actions before, during, and after the disaster as well as the responsibilities of each member of the council. Oftentimes, however, barangay officials are not aware of this role.
Even if they are, Cagay said disaster preparation is simply not in their priorities list.
“If you think about it, no official gets imprisoned for lacking a disaster plan. Can you incarcerate the Mayor because his or her people died during the disaster?” Cagay quipped.
Down to the barangays
The Barangay Disaster Coordinating Council is the smallest unit of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) and is chaired by the barangay captain. The primary roles of BDCCs are to create disaster risk management and reduction plans.
“Disaster risk management is like cooking bibingka, there is fire on the top and another at the bottom. (The) NDCC provides the national guidelines and standards while the barangays localize these initiatives to be useful for their communities,” Cagay explained.
Plans start with hazard mapping where risks are identified. According to Molina, one of the key people in the creation of the Dagupan disaster risk management plan, hazard mappings are “works in progress” and are continuously being improved.
Through the hazard maps, BDCCs will be able to come up with various plans in addressing disaster concerns. Samples of these plans are:
• Social welfare plan
• Wellness and health plan
• Evacuation plans
Photo caption: Disaster Coordinating Councils and chairpersons. Source: www.NDCC.gov.ph
Ideally, disaster councils in each local government level should meet before the disaster to discuss the responsibilities of each person, Cagay explained.
The CDP is often invited to conduct orientations to barangay captains regarding their responsibilities in disaster risk management.
Too often, however, the amount of time allotted for these orientations tend to be very short, giving officials little time to “internalize” the importance of disaster risk management.
“Orientations usually only allot an hour for BDCC and captains seldom approach CDP for additional assistance,” Cagay lamented.
The seemingly lax attitude toward the importance of disaster preparedness can be attributed to the highly-reactive attitude of Filipinos, Cagay explained.
In Dagupan City, locals anticipate yearly flooding but would depend on the local government for rescue assistance.
In the past, communities only react to the disasters and depend on the higher disaster councils. Communities only recognize the need for disaster preparedness after disaster has struck, which would obviously be too late.
“If a BDCC functions the way it should, it would be a big help to the communities because their actions directly impact their constituents,” Cagay explained.
Photo caption: BDCC structure based on a study made in the province of Camiguin.
But disaster risk management does not end in creating a disaster plan, it should include the most important component: community involvement.
“Even if you have a good program, if your community does not understand why the program is useful for them, it would be useless. There should be active participation from the community and the government because in the end, the people will always depend on the government,” Cagay noted.
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| The still flooded AB Fernandez St. in Dagupan [Multiply user Jerome, Boto Mo iPatrol Mo Multiply site] |
Community led
The situation in Dagupan is ideal but in most communities, the DCCs do not function the way they were mandated. If the barangay councils fail to initiate disaster preparation, Cagay said “the community should start their own.”
Such was the situation in Brgy. Banaba, San Mateo, Rizal, one of the communities inundated during the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy (international name Ketsana) last September 26.
Like Dagupan, the locals are used to the flooding in the area. This is because Brgy. Banaba is surrounded by several bodies of water: 1) Marikina River to the west, 2) Nangka River to the south, and 3) 2 Nangka creeks to the east. The barangay sits on the embankment of the two rivers, making it prone to flooding when the rivers overflow.
In 1996, Noli Abinales and some concerned locals organized the Buklod-tao Kalikasan group to push for community-based disaster preparedness.
The group started with around P30,000 for DRM funded through the grant from the Dutch Embassy. In its 12 years in operation, Abinales noted that they never received assistance from their BDCC.
“Since we started disaster risk management, we are proud to say that there had been no casualty during the typhoon seasons,” Abinales said.
The group had been the recipient of various other financial assistance and these were used for creating disaster plans, seminars, and buying early warning devices and rescue equipments.
Buklod-tao boasts of 6 fiber glass boats that they made themselves at the cost of P13,000 each. The boats are 67 feet long and 4 inches wide and can ferry 6 adults. At the height of Ondoy, the boats were also used by the group and by the BDCC in ferrying trapped adults and children.
“What’s important is that people are willing to convene and address the problem, with or without the barangay councils,” Cagay said. – abs-cbnNEWS.com
Editor’s Note: This story is part of our series on Disasters: Search for Solutions. To contribute to this series, email editorial@abs-cbnnews.com
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