Prevention & Mitigation

SENDONG EXPERIENCE
 NDRRM Plan

Goal – avoid hazards and mitigate their potential

impacts by reducing vulnerabilities and exposure,
and enhancing capacities of communities
Focus - reducing vulnerabilities and exposure, &
enhancing capacities
DRRM & CCA in policies, plans & budget

Among seriously hit were situated along the rivers

LDRRMC yet to be established at the time of disaster
 CLUP

Rational use of CLUP

Integration of DRRM concerns in CLUP
Classifying flood-prone as prohibited or strictly
regulated for settlement
Regulated – to apply stringent building
requirements to withstand impact of strong flood
 Easement

Observance of 3 meter river easement under PD

1067 (Philippine Water Code)
No settlements on easement zones
CDO, Iligan, Bukidnon & MisOr are situated in
complex river systems
 DRRM Councils

No LDRRMC in many LGUs

RA 10121 adopted in 2010, & takes time to
internalize
CDO yet to convene LDRRMC, hence no DRRM Plan
Iligan had office and personnel, & contingency plan
under the old set up
 Barangay DRR structure

Majority of brgys in CDO & Iligan no BDRRMC

Not all BDRRMCs in Iligan are functional
Several brgys in Iligan enforced river easement zone
 DRR funds

LGUs confused on the use of ‘disaster fund’

Some officials & finance personnel failed to
understand DRR activities & supplies
CDO approval of its DRR budget came 3 days before
sendong struck
Portions were instead used for ‘lakbay-aral’ activities
irrelevant to disaster concerns
LDRRM officer had difficulty getting his requests
DRRM & CCA sensitive environmental management

Sound environmental management a key to prevent

& mitigate floods
 Reforestation

DENR’s reforestation species invited illegal logging

for charcoal & timber, rampant in Mandulong
watershed
Ecoweb NGO also undertaken reforestation project
in Mandulog watershed
Iligan forest cover has dwindled from 10,000 has.
few decades ago to 2,000 has now
 Forest depletion

Cut logs scattered in Iligan beach

This happened despites Aquino’s total log ban in
Mindanao
Plantations dot upstream CDO landscape
No shift to agro-forestry (FGD)
Mining concessions cited as cause of deforestation
 Disaster resilient infrastructure

DPWH retrofitted CDO bridges

2 bridges collapsed – not clear if the Baungon-CDO,
& Iligan bridges were also retrofitted
Flood control dikes & river wall were constructed in
CDO
Sendong flood breached these dikes
 Scientific assessment, mapping and monitoring

Scientific studies & technology could accurately

forecast, assess and monitor impending disasters
They are crucial in saving lives
 Geo-Hazard Map

MGB had prepared hazard map for CDO, Iligan,

MisOr & Bukidnon
Copies reached the CDO & Iligan LGUs
No follow-through actions by declaring certain areas
as ‘no habitation zones’ or relocation of residents
 Awareness & Dissemination of Researches

XU & others’ geohazard studies failed to reach

decision-makers & public
Survivors knew the risks, but get used to perennial
floods
Did not expect the Sendong scale
Landlessness & livelihood made people lived along
harm’s way
 Weather equipment

Mindanao has 2 doppler radars, but needs 3 to

generate local weather forecast
PAG-ASA lacks sufficient team of meteorologists for
24/7 monitoring
Weather bulletins & forecast come through Manila
 Early warning system

Early warning a key to DRR to prevent loss of lives &

destruction to properties
 Traditional early warning system

At community level, EWS makes a difference in

saving lives
Forms include: color markings of bridge posts, rip-
raps, river post-gause
Markings on CDO bridge were lost when it was
retrofitted
No automated sensing system at the upstream to
alarm downstream dwellers
 ‘Laymanize’ technical jargons

People knew, rains cause flood

Technical weather jargons fail to alert people of
hazard and its risks
 Multi-stakeholder initiative

Government forms river basin & watershed

management council as strategy for environmental
conservation, & disaster prevention and mitigation
LGU gave scant attention & participation to CDO
river basin council led by Archbishop Ledesma