MODULE 3

Disaster Awareness
Preparedness and
Management
 LESSON 1
Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management (DRRM)
ABSTRACTION:

 Historically, response to disaster was more on being reactive; meaning

that natural or man-made disasters had already occurred before the
affected community is able to do anything about it. (Physiopedia: Disaster
Management). But the UN states that over the last few decades, there is
an increasing awareness among societies that disasters are the “result of
long-term processes,” where the risk has been created many years
before a disaster actually happens. This means that overtime, we as a
society are realizing that risks already exist and can increase the impact
of a disaster to a community even before a negative event strikes.
 ABSTRACTION:
 These definitions therefore give rise to Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management as a study that analyses what can be done before, during, and
after a calamity occurs. This includes preparation or prevention of the
different natural and man-made disasters that may happen, the actions to be
taken during the actual event, and the protocol to be followed after it occurs;
such as retrieval and rescue, and rehabilitation of the affected community.
 This graph better illustrates the concept of Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management:
 RA
 In the10121
Philippines, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management was
adopted as a nationwide practice and enacted into law in 2010
through R.A. 10121, also known as the Philippine Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management (PDRRM) Act of 2010.
 As defined in R.A. 10121, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
is 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 disaster.” It aims
to bring together different public and private stakeholders to spread
education, increase mindful practices, and create a culture of
preparedness with regards to facing disasters.
 It is enshrined in R.A. 10121 that the Filipino people’s constitutional
right to life and property will be protected by addressing the root
causes of vulnerabilities to disasters. The law also provides that the
country’s capacity for DRRM and resilience building of communities to
disasters be strengthened.
 The PDRRM Act’s policies on disaster mitigation and response
follows the international standards on emergency prevention and
preparation, mitigation, action, and response and rehabilitation set in
the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s Hyogo Framework for
Action, which aims to build the resilience of nations and communities
to disasters.
 There are the five Priorities for Action outlined in the Hyogo
Framework:
 The PDRRM Act also provides for the creation of the
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Council (NDRRMC), which is responsible for the
formulation, development, and implementation of the
Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction,
Management, and Recovery Framework.
The NDRRMC
The NDRRMC’s primary role is to be the lead actor in disaster response
and mitigation as outlined in RA 10121, and additional roles include:
 Developing the NDRRM Framework; which is the country’s
“comprehensive, all-hazards, multi-sectoral, inter-agency and community-
based approach” to DRRM. It shall serve as the principal guide to
DRRMC efforts in the country and reviewed every five years or as
necessary in order that it stays relevant to the changing needs of the
times.
 Advising the nation’s President on the status of national disaster
preparedness programs and management plans, disaster operations, and
rehabilitation efforts;
 It is also the recommending body in cases of declaring a state of national
calamity and release of national calamity funds as needed.
The NDRRMC’s responsibilities are cascaded down to regional, provincial,
city, and municipality levels through the formation of the Local Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Office in each local government unit.
Basic Disaster Concepts

 Disaster
According to Republic Act 10121 Section 3-h, a disaster is a
“serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society
involving widespread human, material, economic or
environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of
the affected community or society to cope using its own
resources.” It is the result of a combination of exposure to hazard;
the conditions of vulnerability that are present; and not enough
resources to prepare for or recover from the negative event.
 Hazard
As defined in Republic Act 10121, Section 3-v, a Hazard is a
“dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition that
may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property
damage, loss of livelihood and services, social and economic
disruption, or environmental damage.” Hazards may be natural,
human-induced, or a combination of both.
 Vulnerability
The law refers to it as the characteristics and circumstances of a
community which makes it prone to the damaging effects of a
hazard. It explains why people, livelihoods, and properties
located in areas where hazards occur can suffer damage and
loss. In the country, vulnerabilities largely stem from poverty.
Poverty causes and worsens vulnerabilities due to lack of
capacity to prepare essential tools in preparing for disasters.
The inability of a community to cope when a hazard occurs is
called vulnerability.
 Exposure
Refers to “the degree to which a community is likely to
experience hazard events of different magnitudes.” RA 10121
refers to the physical location (e.g. on the foot of a volcano,
proximity to a body of water, low-lying area), characteristics
(type of soil, topography, temperature), and population density
(overpopulation, congestion) of a community that “exposes” it to
hazards.
 Capacity
According to Republic Act 10121 Section 3-b, Capacity “is a
combination of all strengths and resources available within a
community, society or organization that can reduce the level of
risk, or effects of a disaster.” The law further adds that this may
include “infrastructure and physical means, institutions, societal
coping abilities; as well as human knowledge, skills and collective
attributes such as social relationships, leadership and
management.” Capacity is also described as capability.
 Disaster Risk
It is the potential for loss of lives, health status, livelihood, assets and
services, which can happen to a particular community over some specified
future time period. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent has stated that “the combination of hazards, vulnerability, and
inability to reduce the potential negative consequences of risk results in
disaster,” highlighted in the equation.
The country’s Office of Civil Defense (OCD) explains that disasters are
likelier to occur if “the extent of exposure and vulnerability of a community to a
particular hazard is higher than its capacity to cope.” Simply put, an event is
more likely to result in disaster if a community does not have the tools to rise
above or recover from a natural or man-made event.
However, it can also go the other way, as the OCD further states that
disaster risk is reduced if the community has the capacity to “prepare for and
confront a particular hazard is stronger than the extent of its exposure and
vulnerability.”