THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has urged local government units (LGUs) to come up with disaster reduction strategies to prevent significant economic loss in times of calamities.
In a media forum on Saturday, October 19, 2024, DENR Assistant Secretary Rochelle Gamboa said yearly data on the economic losses showed the huge economic cost of disasters.
“Ang napakataas po like noong recent po na bagyo. Ang losses po doon sa agrikultura lamang ay umabot ng P6 billion,” she said.
“But, ang mahalaga po mayroon pong disaster reduction strategies ang mga cities. Ang gastos po na iyon masi-save po nila kung mayroon po silang disaster risk strategy,” she added.
During the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation (APMCDRR) 2024 held in Manila, Gamboa said among the options discussed to prevent economic losses due to disasters was the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to predict, and monitor disasters, as well as to identify solutions for recovery.
Gamboa cited as example the technology from the Philippine Space Agency (PSA) used by the DENR to monitor and map out possible hazards, with the resulting data turned over to the LGUs.
She said local officials should adopt a more persuasive approach to convince residents to evacuate from risk areas during calamities.
“So, maybe there’s a way that we could actually make it more efficient, make the system and the communications more efficient para maintindihan ng mga tao na hindi sila dapat nagtatayo ng bahay o naglo-locate sa areas na may mga fault lines para ‘pag dumating man ang landslide or even an earthquake, hindi sila gaanong apektado,” she said.
Gamboa said there were also proposals from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) on the use of insurance mechanisms to prevent displacement of residents.
The official said the LGUs play a vital role in disaster risk mitigation and recovery, noting their efforts lessen property damage and loss of life during disasters.
“This battle will be won in the local levels, especially in cities which have the highest populations,” Gamboa said.
“So, mga economic policies will have to be local-based ‘no para ang pagpaplano ng pagpapaunlad ang siyang magpapahusay ng kakayahan ng Pilipinas sa paghahanda, pagtugon at pag-recover sa mga kalamidad,” she added. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)
