From September 22–24, 2026, representatives from National Government Agencies, Provincial Government Offices, Civil Society Organizations, and People’s Organizations came together at the Governor’s Residence in Northern Samar for the Resilient Local Government Systems Scorecard (RLGSS) Re-Orientation, Contextualization, Baselining, and Resilience Action Planning under the SHIELD Cohort 1 Program Areas.
Organized and facilitated by the National Resilience Council (NRC), with the strong support of the Northern Samar Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), the three-day activity provided a space for learning, assessment, reflection, and action—grounded in the RLGSS and other resilience concepts and frameworks.
At the heart of the discussions were three important phases:
PREPARE — Resilience begins with understanding risk. This means knowing Northern Samar’s hazards, identifying exposed communities and assets, and addressing the underlying factors that make people and systems vulnerable.
ADAPT — Existing systems must continuously improve. This means identifying vulnerabilities and strengthening systems, policies, and measures that can reduce the impacts of hazards on communities, livelihoods, infrastructure, and essential services.
TRANSFORM — Sometimes, resilience requires more than simply improving what already exists. Transformation means embracing innovation and making fundamental changes when existing approaches are no longer enough to address emerging and persistent risks.
During the final day, participants reflected on the province’s resilience journey. Northern Samar has already come a long way, but there is still much work to be done—highlighting that everyone needs to contribute to the continuing resilience work.
Northern Samar PDRRMO Chief, Mr. Rei Josiah Echano, emphasized the need for stakeholders and institutions to step up and strengthen their level of competence. He also highlighted a key lesson from the three-day engagement: resilience is a continuous process of learning, strengthening institutions, working together, and turning plans into meaningful action.
Resilience is not built by one institution alone.
It is built when people, communities, institutions, and leaders prepare together, adapt together, and transform together.
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Photo Credits to Northern Samar PDRRMO
