Best times to address and who should address

Any and every time is the best time to address issues regarding Disaster and Risk Reduction Management as we can never tell when a disaster will come. Everyone should also be involved as it is also their community and safety that will be discussed when issues are being addressed.

Addressing issues as a Filipino

As a Filipino, I want to address vulnerabilities within the country by educating others about the proper way of giving first aid and life support so that many will know what to do during a disaster.

Interview with a Barangay and its DRRM

At Barangay 281 of San Nicolas, Manila, Kagawad Jaime P. Mocon tells about the barangay’s Disaster and Risk Reduction Management. There are evacuation centers prepared for the people in case earthquakes or storms happen. When there are emergencies like fires, megaphones are provided by the chairman for quick announcements as well as a volunteer brigade. There are feeding programs for the children and livelihood projects for women to gain income while staying home like making processed meats or bayongs.

Assessing vulnerabilities, capacities and local knowledge

We thought of our communities to further find vulnerabilities so that we can help in making it a safer place. With this, we’ve crossed out the already addressed vulnerabilities and found more vulnerabilities we should give attention as it could be very dangerous. In UST, Dapitan is a big vulnerability as there are a lot of cars passing and could lead to accidents and is prone to flooding during the rainy season. Despite that, we are near a hospital and a few convenience stores when in need of supplies and first aid material. Because of this, I’ve realized that even though there are hazards around us, we alsp have the capability of finding solutions to potential dangers.

A need to address problems

Our country is a primary target of storms and is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Due to this, we are prone to being hit by earthquakes and storms. As a result and given that we lack the necessary preparations to prevent casualties during disasters, we suffer tremendous losses at a short span of time when a calamity hits. Thus, disasters should be properly addressed to find possible solutions in the future.

Learning from the DRRM Seminar

Disasters can be defined as an event that causes a lot of damage or loss of life in a community. These disasters are brought upon us by hazards such as open canals or faulty wiring. This then raises risk for a potential disaster to occur. In order to avoid risks and disasters, disaster and reduction management should be used. DRRM aims to educate anyone with the proper knowledge to prevent a disaster or when one occurs. It assesses vulnerabilities and capacities, the ability to be harmed and the ability to avoid harm, to fix problems in a community.

We should promote participatory management of disasters by training people who will teach everyone else to further enhance the probability of reducing disasters and risk. This in turn develops disaster resilience, the ability of communities, organizations, individuals or states to adapt to and recover from hazards presented by the surroundings.

Like bamboo, we should be able to bend to whatever is thrown at us and be resilient to anything that we face.

Life is also sudden. We sometimes have to help without thinking like a game of Bahay-Bagyo-Tao, letting strangers stay in for the night or taking shelter in unknown places when we have to. We also have to be prepared to give first aid and or basic life support when disasters like storms or earthquakes happen as it is our duty to help others in need.