ILOILO CITY has been chosen by the National Resilience Council (NRC) as the first local government unit for assistance towards becoming a model for safety and sustainability. “The NRC approached Iloilo City because we are aware that the leadership is open to both the collaboration with the private sector and the science and technology community. Iloilo has very good foundation for how evidence-based risk governance can actually be part of the sustainability of the city,” NRC President Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last week. Among the target output under the MoU are an integrated risk assessment, a resilience roadmap, and an integrated multi-stakeholder plan. The MoU was signed by Ms. Loyzaga, Iloilo Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Gay D. Defiesta for the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV). As part of the partnership, Iloilo City also received disaster risk reduction devices from the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction in Taiwan. Aside from UPV, NRC will also be assisted by the University of San Agustin, John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University, West Visayas State University, and the Iloilo Science and Technology University. Mr. Treñas said the collaboration, together with the private sector, is important for economic growth. “We need to be resilient… to make sure that our people will be safe and not only our people, but investors,” he said. He announced that Megaworld Corp. has committed an P8 million contribution for the program on improving resilience capacity.

SOURCE:
Santiagudo, E. (2019, October 23). NRC taps Iloilo City to be resilience model. BusinessWorld. Retrieved from https://www.bworldonline.com/nrc-taps-iloilo-city-to-be-resilience-model/

PHOTO: BusinessWorld