44 provinces at ‘high risk’ for floods, landslides

At least 44 provinces nationwide have been identified as “high-risk" areas for flooding, landslide and other storm-related eventualities by the government, which is now laying down plans on preventing devastation similar to what the country suffered last year. “[President Benigno Aquino III) has instructed us to begin coordinating with the LGUs (local government units) so that we can identify different villages or households at risk," said Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky" Soliman at a press briefing in Malacañang Tuesday. She said they are now crafting disaster prevention measures for the residents of the 44 high-risk provinces, which include Quezon, Leyte, Samar, and those in the Bicol region and Caraga area. A series of strong cyclones late last year left hundreds of people dead and billions of pesos worth in infrastructure and agriculture damages mostly in the National Capital Region and northern and central Luzon. For this year, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DWSD) has set aside standby funds of P500,000 for the NCR and P300,000 for each region for the purchase of “immediate resources" like rice should disasters strike, Soliman said. Relief items like clothes, blankets, and cooking utensils have also been sent to various regions for stockpiling in evacuation centers, she added. Soliman said weather forecasters do not see any major weather disturbance to occur within the next month or so, but the government is already putting measures in place to prevent the massive flooding that occurred when tropical storm Ondoy, followed by typhoon Pepeng, devastated many parts of Luzon including Metro Manila last year. “I think our level of preparedness is really informed by the lessons of the past," said Soliman. The government is expected to finish crafting next month the implementing rules and regulations for the law restructuring the National Disaster Coordinating Council and renaming it the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, she said. The new disaster response body will be made up of 38 government and non-government agencies — as opposed to the current 18 that comprise the NDCC — that will respond to disaster incidents in the country, said Soliman. The new body will be headed by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. - KBK, GMANews.TV