Let's begin with the discussion of the disaster risk profile If we look at the distribution of active faults and
nd trenches
of our country, the Philippines.
Let's have a preview of the disasters faced by our
country by watching this short video
before proceeding to the actual disaster risk profile.
Let us first explore some terms.
What is a hazard?
A hazard is something that is dangerous and likely to
cause damage.
There are two types of hazards.
Natural hazards and human-induced hazards.
To present the idea of natural hazards, here is a list of
natural hazards that we frequently
encounter.
Click on each icon to see images of natural hazards.
Typhoon, Flood, Storm Surge, Earthquake, Genami,
Volcanic eruption, Landslide, Drought.
Aside from natural hazards, we also have human-
induced hazards such as the following.
Click on each icon to see the recent images of human-
induced hazards.
Fire, Maritime accident, Aircraft crash, Land accidents,
Industrial accident, Pollution,
Civil disturbance, Terrorism, Armed conflict.
We will now proceed to the definition of a disaster.
According to the United Nations Office for Disaster
Restreduction or UNISDR, a disaster
is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community
or a society at any scale due
to hazardous events interacting with conditions of
exposure, vulnerability and capacity leading
to one or more of the following.
Human, material, economic and environmental losses
and impacts.
One major reason why we have disasters in the
Philippines is our geographic location.
We are situated along the highly seismic Pacific Ring of
Fire.
This area is where the Philippines Sea and Eurasian,
Tectonic Plates meet, hence prone
to the occurrence of earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic
eruptions.
In fact, we have 300 volcanoes in the country, 22 of
which are active.
in the Philippines, these are
found in several areas of the country.
Moreover, if we examine the frequency of occurrence of
earthquakes or seismicity, almost all parts
of the country experience earthquakes.
Generally, we encounter an average of 5 earthquakes a
day.
Aside from being situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire, we
are also located along the Pacific
Typhoon Belt.
This explains the occurrences of different weather
disturbances such as typhoons.
In fact, the Philippines can also be called an exporter of
typhoons.
From the records of the Japan Meteorological Agency,
we can see the typhoon tracks from
1948 to 2010.
By looking closely at the NASA's intensity-scale
classification of tropical cyclones, we can
see they have developed a category called super
typhoon.
A super typhoon has sustained winds of greater than
220 km per hour.
Because of typhoon, with international name Hayen,
Poughasa had the realization that the
strength of typhoons can go beyond our existing
threshold.
In addition, we also have to deal with the irreversible
impacts of climate change that
is characterized by the increasing global temperatures.
Many reporters make use of climate change as the
reference point for the increasing threats
of natural disasters.
Meanwhile, we have to note that for every disaster, there
are accompanying effects.
Here's the list of those effects.
First and foremost is human toll.
Some people die, get injured or become missing as a
result of a disaster.
Click on the arrow to view the images.
Communities are displaced.
Sources of livelihood are lost.
Infrastructure are damaged.
The environment are damaged.
We suffer economic losses.
Our delivery of services is hampered.
After learning about the effects of a disaster, we will try
to unlock the term disaster risk.
According to the United Nations Office for Disaster
Reduction or UNISDR, disaster risk
is defined as the potential loss of life, injury or destroyed
or damaged assets, which
could occur to a system, society or a community in a
specific period of time.
And probabilistically as a function of hazard.
Exposure, vulnerability and capacity.
Disaster risk is widely recognized as the consequence of
the interaction between a hazard
and the characteristics that make people and places
vulnerable and exposed.
Here is an equation that scholars develop to quantify
disaster risk.
R, or risk is computed by multiplying H, V and E.
H stands for hazard.
V for vulnerability.
And E for exposure.
When we increase H, V or E, R also increases.
But how do we decrease risk?
We will now add another letter, letter C. C stands for
capacity and this will be our
divisor for H, V and E to minimize our R.
Explaining it further, we are exposed to the risk of
disasters if hazards intersect with
vulnerability and exposure.
In reality, we can after use the impacts of the hazards,
especially given our geographic
location.
However, we can address the vulnerabilities and
exposure by increasing the capacities.
In this way, we can ultimately reduce our risk of
disasters.
Let's have a quick check on your learning about
disasters.
In this activity, you have to decide whether the given
location of a house is vulnerable
or not.
First scenario, a house is made of light materials and is
directly situated along the
fault line.
Full-nurable or not.
Second scenario, a house is situated along the coastal
area.
Full-nurable or not.
Third scenario, a house is situated in an elevated area
12 kilometers away from a nearby
volcano.
Full-nurable or not?
Correct!
What is a risk index score then?
According to the UN sponsored World Risk Index Report
of 2016, our country, the Philippines,
is currently at Round No. 3 from Round 9 in 2009,
among the countries at high risk to
disasters.
This means that our capacity to reduce risk is among the
lowest in the world.
Instruction
Click true if the statement describes the Philippine
disaster risk profile and faults
if it is not.
After
After learning about our country's disaster risk profile, let
us check on how our governments
responded through a paradigm shift in the Philippine
DRRM system.
DRRM, or Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, is
defined as the systematic process of using
administrative directives, organizations and operational
skills and capacities to implement
strategies, policies and improved coping capacities in
order to lessen the adverse impacts of hazards
and the possibility of a disaster.
The paradigm shift to DRRM is brought about by the
enactment of Republic Act 10121.
Our A10121 is described as an app strengthening the
Philippine disaster risk reduction and
management system, providing for the National Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management Framework,
and institutionalizing the National Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Plan, appropriating
funds, therefore and for other purposes.
There is a quick summary of the said paradigm shift
brought about by the law.
In the past, we had a top-down centralized approach to
disaster management.
Now we are taking a bottom-up participatory DRRM
approach.
Also, we used to consider disasters as a function of
physical hazards.
Now we view disasters as a reflection of people's
vulnerability.
In the past, we focused on disaster response.
Now we take an integrated approach by looking at all
aspects to reduce disaster risk.
Overall, the big shift was moving from being a reactive to
a proactive Philippine DRRM system.
There were changes that happened after this shift.
First, the National Disaster Coordinating Council, or
MDCC, established on October
1990, was reorganized and renamed as National
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council,
or NDRMC, last February 2010.
Second, RA10121 grants the NDRMC with policymaking,
coordination, integration, supervision,
monitoring and evaluation functions and empowers all
focusing on DRRM.
Third, the law led to the expansion of the council
members from 19 in the former NDCC
to 45 in the new NDRMC.
For comparison, you can click on the icons for the
complete list of members from each
council.
Fourth, acting as the executive arm and secretariat of
the NDRMC is the Office of Civil Defense,
or OCD.
The mission of OCD is to administer a comprehensive
National Civil Defense and disaster risk reduction
and management program by providing leadership in the
continuous development of strategic
and systematic approaches as well as measures to
reduce the vulnerabilities and risks to
hazard and manage the consequences of disasters.
In other words, OCD is the orchestrator of PDRMs.
It is further provided for, in the law, that the NDRMC
shall establish an operations center.
This is the 24-7 facility for monitoring and coordination.
It is where we disseminate situation reports, alerts and
communications to all council members
and various stakeholders.
It is also a venue for all the stakeholders to facilitate
effective management of the consequences
of disasters.
To bring down DRRM to the grassroots level, RA10121
further provides for the establishment
of the DRRM network or the replication of the NDRMC
from the national down to the Barangay
levels.
Let's take a look at how the coordination works during
emergencies.
As a standard, it starts with the Barangay DRRM
committee and elevates to the city or
municipal council, then to the provincial level, then
regional level and last to the
national DRRMC.
Moreover for every province, city, municipality and
barangay, there must be an established
local DRRM office.
This office is in charge of setting the direction,
development implementation and coordination
of DRRM programs in their respective areas.
RA10121 also stipulates the development of the NDRM
framework which was approved last
June 16, 2011.
The framework is our overall guide to achieve the vision
of safe, adaptive and resilient
Filipino communities towards sustainable development.
To implement all our DRRM targets, the NDRMC
formulated the NDRM plan approved on the 7th
of February 2012.
The NDRM plan enumerates four priority areas with four
long-term goals, 14 objectives,
24 outcomes, 56 outputs and 93 activities.
We drag the appropriate word on the before or after
column of the paradigm shift.
Glues are provided to get you started.
Now let us discuss the four thematic areas of disaster
risk reduction in management.
The fourth thematic areas of the NDRMC are disaster
prevention and mitigation, disaster
preparedness, disaster response and disaster
rehabilitation and recovery.
Use the dial to know more about each area.
Let us learn more about the assessment.
ViewSD
The Vice Chairperson for Disaster Prevention and
Mitigation is the Department of Science and Technology,
or DOST.
The Vice Chairperson for Disaster Preparedness is the
Department of Interior and Local Government, or DILG.
For disaster response, the Vice Chairperson is the
Department of Social Welfare and Development, or
DSWD.
For disaster rehabilitation and recovery, the Vice
Chairperson is the National Economic Development
Authority, or NEDA.
Read each statement and classify onto which face it will
fall under.
Drag your answer on the correct description of each
thematic area.
Implementing the DRRM system is not a walk in the
park.
Here are some of the notable challenges listed by the
administering bodies.
First, we need the cooperation and buy-in of our
stakeholders.
We also need to correct the notion that DRRM is only a
government concern.
Rather, it requires the whole of a society approach.
We must also consider DRRM as a way of life.
Our national and local officials have prioritized DRRM.
Lastly, we need continuous development, review and
improvement of our DRRM policies, plans and programs
in view of the new normal.
This new normal is the acknowledgement of the fact that
disasters nowadays are increasing in terms of scope,
magnitude, frequency and complexities.
Given the chance, what would you like to write as your
personal commitment beginning today?
Reminder, this will be collated and reviewed by the
Office of Civil Defence.