Some eighty-two barangays in the city were able to complete their respective updated Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) plans that are aligned in effectively and efficiently dealing with the prevailing threats to the safety of the residents.
Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer (LDRRMO) III Louie Glen Lardizabal stated that the other 46 barangays are still on the process of finalizing their respective DRRM plans with the guidance of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO).
He disclosed that the local government understands the prevailing predicaments of the barangays that have not completed the updating of their respective DRRM plans that is why the CDRRMO is giving the said barangays sufficient time to comply with the completion of their plans for eventual consolidation and to be used as one of the basis in updating the city’s DRRM plan.
Among the problems being encountered by the barangays in the updating of their respective DRRM plans include the identification of the hazards, the prevailing restrictions to contain the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the infection contracted by barangay officials and the tedious requirements serving as supporting documents of the said plans.
However, Lardizabal claimed that the CDRRMO is constantly providing technical assistance to the barangays to ensure that the barangay officials will be able to complete their updated DRRM plans within the prescribed time frame although the local government recognizes the existence of valid reasons for the delays in the completion of the same.
According to him, all the barangays are doing their best to complete their updated DRRM plans but there are supervening events that affect their completion and updating of the said plans, thus, the concerned barangays are given the necessary leeway for them to be able to submit their DRRM plans to the local government.
He stipulated it is important for the barangays to have their updated DRRM plans so that the same will serve as their basis in effectively and efficiently responding to calls for emergency from their residents and for them to be guided in future actions to undertake to guarantee the safety of life and limb.
Lardizabal explained that it does not mean that the barangays that have not completed the updating of their DRRM plans are not doing something about it but it just so happened that there are supervening events that caused the delays in the completion and updating of the said plans and that it will just take some time for them to be able to complete the same and eventually submit such plans to the local government.
He underscored that the barangay DRRM plans must be approved and adopted by the concerned barangay council through a resolution that will serve as one of the major documentary requirements to ensure the completeness of the said plans which will be ready for implementation by the barangay officials and their DRRM partners to guarantee the protection of life and limb from the threats of disasters that include emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.
