The National Resilience Council (NRC) launched on June 17, 2019 the ADOPT-A-CITY Program through a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding among SM Prime Executive Committee Chairman and NRC Co-Chair for Private Sector Hans Sy, Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno and NRC President Ma. Antonia Yulo Loyzaga. The tripartite with NRC, SM Prime and Cagayan de Oro City is the first partnership formed under the new program.
Video courtesy of CNN Philippines
Guided by its belief in the importance of public-private partnerships in promoting a disaster and climate resilient Philippines, the NRC created the ADOPT-A-CITY Program as a city-specific partnership model responding to the Philippines’ commitments under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals, the agreements on Climate and the New Urban Agenda. NRC matches partners’ resources (scientific knowledge, technology, funding, services, equipment and logistics) to the strategic needs of the local government units (LGUs) undergoing the Resilient LGU Program, NRC’s 3-year program integrating Science & Technology and Leadership & Governance.
In photo: (standing L-R) SM Supermalls’ VP for corporate compliance Liza Silerio and COO Steven Tan, CDO local economic investment promotions officer Eileen San Juan, NRC executive director Malu Erni; (seated L-R) Hans Sy, CDO Mayor Oscar Moreno, and NRC president Antonia Yulo Loyzaga. Photo courtesy of SM.The launch of the ADOPT-A-CITY Program was published in Malaya, The Philippine Star and The Manila Times. Press releases courtesy of SM.
By pledging its support, a private sector
corporation can directly invest in the city’s disaster risk reduction and
long-term resilience efforts. The program also uses a whole-of-society approach
and strengthens private sector collaboration with local governments, academic
partners and communities themselves in co-creating science and technology-based
solutions and capacity building for evidence-informed risk governance. This
involves structural interventions and projects to address specific social,
economic and environmental exposure and vulnerability. It not only enables the
LGU to bounce back after a hazard strikes, but it also prepares and prevents a
disaster to “bounce forward” together in ways to reduce future risk.
Ms. Antonia Yulo Loyzaga, President of the National Resilience Council (NRC), graced the 19th ASEP International Convention (AIC) as a keynote speaker at Crowne Plaza Galleria in Quezon City. With the theme “Structural Engineering for Infrastructure Resilience”, the 3-day convention organized by the Association for Structural Engineers in the Philippines—held from May 30 to June 1—was an opportunity to discuss the role of structural engineers in building a disaster resilient Philippines.
NRC President Antonia Yulo Loyzaga delivered her keynote presentation at the 19th AIC.
In her presentation, Ms. Loyzaga briefly
introduced NRC’s work on disaster risk reduction and resilience. She then set
the tone by citing data from the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of
Disasters (CRED), mentioning that 3,000 disasters had occurred worldwide since
2007. While there had been a decrease in deaths, there was an increase in
economic loss and damage, most notably in developing countries. Ms. Loyzaga
added that most disasters had been in Asia, killing more people due to
earthquakes rather than the more frequent storms and floods.
To paint a picture of the Philippines’ situation, Ms. Loyzaga said the country ranked third in the latest World Risk Index. In 2018 alone, studies by CRED and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) indicated that the country ranked seventh in total disaster death toll, eighth among the Top 10 deadliest disasters and second to India in the Top 10 countries with the most number of people affected.
With all these data, she shared four key messages as a takeaway for the participants of the convention: working on disaster risk reduction alone is not enough; disasters and development are linked; addressing infrastructure needs means dealing with complex adaptive networks; and incorporating leadership and governance prove to be critical in the shared journey to resilience.
Awarding of keynote speakers at the 19th AIC.
“The real engines of growth are human ingenuity, professionalism and productivity,” reminded Ms. Loyzaga at the end of her presentation. “The country needs ASEP to safeguard these and ensure our sustainable and resilient future. Together, we hope to help build a bridge to Resilience as we work together to achieve convergence, strategic coherence and continuity.”
NRC President Antonia Yulo Loyzaga and ASEP President Engr. Gilbert Magbutay
during the signing of the NRC Pledge of Partnership for a Resilient Philippines.
ASEP President Engr. Gilbert Magbutay joined Ms. Loyzaga onstage afterwards to sign the NRC Pledge of Partnership for a Resilient Philippines. By signing the agreement, ASEP affirmed its support to the NRC in its pursuit of its resilience agenda.
The National Resilience Council (NRC) attended the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s (UNDRR) 2019 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2019), where NRC had several opportunities to share its resilience work with representatives of member states, parliamentarians, local governments, UN bodies, intergovernmental organizations and other stakeholder groups.
Held from May 13 to 17 in Geneva, Switzerland, GP2019 was the last global session before achieving Target E of the Sendai Framework: Substantially increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020. UNDRR organizes the Global Platform every two years as a chance to evaluate programs and initiatives, share knowledge on and discuss the progress and trends in disaster risk reduction (DRR).
High Level Dialogue session during GP2019. Photo by UNDRR.
Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE) International Board Member, SM Prime Executive Committee Chairman and NRC Co-Chair for Private Sector, Mr. Hans Sy, was a panelist in the May 14 session on “Building the resilience of MSMEs to climate and disaster risk” during Private Sector Day. It tackled the needs of MSMEs in relation to climate and disaster resilience building, as well as addressed the bigger picture of MSMEs supporting and investing in disaster resilience.
SM Prime Executive Committee Chaiman and NRC Co-Chair Hans Sy during the session entitled “Building the resilience of MSMEs to climate and disaster risk” during Private Sector Day.
Mr. Sy also spoke in the May 16 High Level Dialogue session on “Risk-Informed Public and Private Investments”. It was an opportunity to share best practices and explore approaches to coming up with good risk-informed and multi-dividend investments. During the session, Mr. Sy highlighted SM Prime’s investments to resilience and the work of NRC in reducing security risk by addressing informal settlement issues in Metro Manila.
NRC President Antonia Yulo Loyzaga, meanwhile, spoke in a session on “Contextualizing the Science and Technology Roadmap” at the Science and Policy Forum. The session aimed to encourage participants in adopting and contributing to the revised “Science and Technology Roadmap to support the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030”, a roadmap developed during the January 2016 Science and Technology Conference in Geneva.
NRC President Antonia Yulo Loyzaga served as a panelist for a session on “Contextualizing the Science and Technology Roadmap” at the Science and Policy Forum. Photo by IISD/ENB | Angeles Estrada
On the same day, Ms. Loyzaga participated as a panelist at an interactive discussion on “Mechanisms for Impact: Identifying Modalities towards Successful SEM” at the Stakeholder Forum. The session allowed participants to share and learn good practices from initiatives around the world with a multi-sectoral approach to disaster risk reduction and resilience. SEM, or the Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism, is a UNDRR initiative that aims to foster closer engagement among stakeholders in the implementation of the Sendai Framework, while also linking itself to other processes with similar mechanisms.
Ms. Yulo Loyzaga presented NRC’s work at the ARISE Annual General Meeting.
Ms. Yulo Loyzaga served as a panelist during the Stakeholder Forum.
UNDRR’s first Synthesis and Analysis Report of the Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments featuring NRC’s Resilient Local Government Systems Program.
The report cited NRC as a good example for
gathering organizations with varying expertise, resources and capacities—such
as Ateneo de Manila University, Manila Observatory and Zuellig Family
Foundation as implementing partners and Carlos P. Romulo Foundation, San Miguel
Corporation and SM Prime as funding partners—to strengthen and implement its
programs and initiatives.
The Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE) in the Philippines had its Annual General Meeting (AGM) last 29 April 2019 at the Mall of Asia Arena Annex (MAAX) Building in Pasay City.
Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Capacity Building and Training Service Director Susana Juangco spoke on behalf of OCD Administrator Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad.NRC President Antonia Loyzaga (left) and SM Supermalls Vice President Liza Silerio (right) shared the work and accomplishments of NRC and SM, respectively.
ARISE Philippines’ Secretariat, SM Prime, and its Lead Implementing Partner, the National Resilience Council (NRC), co-organized the meeting to foster an understanding of the nature of the following ARISE work themes: Disaster & Risk Management Strategies; Education & Training; and Urban Risk Reduction & Resilience.
NRC Executive Director Malu Erni moderated the discussions on the three ARISE work themes.
In an NRC-facilitated session, members discussed
their accomplishments according to the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) under
each work theme. Among the outputs shared were NRC’s localized resilience
scorecard for Disaster & Risk
Management Strategies, Ateneo de Manila University’s Master of Disaster
Risk and Resilience degree program for Education
& Training and SM’s Resilience Center for Urban Risk Reduction & Resilience.
ARISE Philippines included the highlights from the meeting in a report for the 2019 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2019), as well as used them as inputs for the 2019-2020 ARISE Philippines Roadmap.
Participants discussed outputs and accomplishments for the ARISE roadmap
Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation President, Butch Meily, presented for Work Theme 1: Disaster Risk Management Strategies
Coastal Cities at Risk in the Philippines (CCARPH) Project Leader, Dr. Emma Porio, reported the outputs for Work Theme 4: Education and Training
Build Change Country Director for the Philippines, Kate Landry, for Work Theme 6: Urban Risk Reduction and Resilience
As a side event, Ms. Rosemarie Rafael of Airspeed—a logistics and end-to-end solutions provider offering expertise in customs brokerage, cargo handling, local distribution, e-commerce deliveries, and warehousing—also signed the Pledge of Partnership for Resilience to formalize its commitment to working with NRC.
NRC Co-Chair Hans T. Sy (left) and NRC President Antonia Yulo Loyzaga (right) join Airspeed President Rosemarie Rafael as the organization officially partners with NRC.
ARISE, an initiative under the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), is a network of private sector organizations and entities that aim to align with the goals of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which are also consistent with that of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan and the NRC resilience platform. ARISE also takes on facilitation of sharing of knowledge and experience in tangible DRR project implementation.
Mr. Hans T. Sy (seated at the center) with speakers and special guests at the ARISE AGM.
