Category: Blog

By Amb. Roberto R. Romulo

President Duterte’s earnest call for Congress to pass a law creating a Department of Disaster Resilience during his 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA) is hopefully the start of a serious effort to address our country’s inadequate disaster management capabilities. The President had made a similar call in his second SONA, although absent a detailed proposal to create a standalone department.

This time around, the President said the Cabinet would be submit its proposal for the creation of such a department. In addition to the Cabinet proposed legislation, I understand that there, in fact, are several bills in the House and in the Senate – with varying approaches to disaster risk reduction and resilience.

The Cabinet proposal seems to be the most comprehensive, even though I also have my reservations about some of its provisions. I do hope it responds pro-actively to meet the requirements of what the President said is “a truly empowered department characterized by a unity of command, science-based approach, and full-time focus on natural hazards and disasters, and the wherewithal to take charge of the disaster risk reduction, preparedness, and response, with better recovery and faster rehabilitation.” I also hope it will welcome and, in fact, facilitate critical contributions to risk reduction and resilience from the non-government sector, specifically, the private sector, academia, and civil society.

But whatever final version emerges, it is our fervent hope Congress will respond with extreme urgency to what we understand to be growing risk to climate change, natural and technological hazards, as well as, human-induced emergencies. According to media reports records from the House’s official website, it says the proposed Department of Disaster Resilience bills remain pending at the Committee on Government Reorganization since July 2016, which does not augur well.

By a fortuitous turn of events, the new Speaker of the House, former president Gloria Arroyo, is familiar with the issue and has taken the cudgel in moving this bill at this critical juncture. To show that she means business, one of her first act as Speaker was to convene a briefing for lawmakers with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Monday, July 30. During briefing, she announced her intention to create a House Committee on Disaster Resilience to tackle the bills seeking to create the Department of Disaster Resilience. With such forceful leadership, I am optimistic SGMA will be able to shepherd this bill through the House fairly quickly. The question now is how fast the Senate will move and how much gap will have to be bridged between their version of the bill. We anticipate that there will be attempts to produce a compromise bill and we hope that this will not be the cause of further delay.

Resiliency is key

As readers of this column are probably aware, the private sector has been active in promoting disaster resiliency. To paraphrase the UN Office for Disaster Reduction, resilience is defined as the ability of a system, community, or society exposed to natural disasters to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform, and recover from the effects of that disaster. We wish to add to that definition by stating that any recovery from a disaster should be achieved in ways that enhance society’s capacity to respond to future risks. While resilience is our goal, transformation in terms of evidence-informed leadership, knowledge, competencies and skills is critical to achieving it. This type of transformative leadership must be achieved through multi-stakeholder partnerships at both national and local levels.

A number of resiliency endeavors are in place at various levels of government and with the involvement of the private sector. The need to align these endeavors led to the establishment of the National Resilience Council (NRC). The NRC is a science and technology based public-private partnership headed by the secretary of National Defense as the co-chair for government, together with Hans Sy of SM Prime Holdings as the co-chair for private sector. The vice-chairs are DILG Undersecretary Austere Panadero, Ed Chua of Makati Business Club, Fr. Jett Villarin and Ernie Garilao representing the government, business, and scientific community/academe and CSOs, respectively. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga is the president and Malu Erni is the executive director.

Recognizing that local governments play a primary role in achieving resilience, the NRC engaged directly with partners in the the business community, the executive and legislative departments, academia and the civil society sector in order to seek demand-driven solutions that are innovative, science-based, and localized. To date, the NRC is working with eight local government units, namely: Bataan province, and the cities of Valenzuela, Naga, Iriga, Iloilo, Ormoc, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga in a three-year program that combines training in leadership and governance and science and technology. Each LGU has now organized its own Local Resilience Councils. The active participation of civil society groups such as urban poor associations and PBSP, the armed forces and, both private and public universities ensure that multi-stakeholder commitments to bouncing forward, instead of bouncing back to our historical states of exposure and vulnerability.

The NRC stands ready to support the new department in achieving a climate and disaster resilient Philippines.

Science and technology for information integration

While we cannot prevent an earthquake or a typhoon from occurring, or a volcano from erupting, science and technology – particularly information technology – can reduce exposure and risk. Early warnings via social media, damage estimation and risk-sensitive land use planning rely on some form of ground-based and remotely sensed data, analytical tools, and communications technology. What is badly needed, and what we hope will be at the core of the new department is a central platform for information integration incorporating data from all the relevant agencies. This platform should allow us to better understand risk, synoptically and locally, and make timely and informed decisions.

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has made it possible to predict outcomes of natural phenomena before they become disasters. For example, the Taipei City government now has the capability to predict specific areas in the city – down to particular streets – where flooding may occur and its magnitude using algorithms to data collected over time. In some states in the US crunching information from citizens, social media users, and on-the-ground aid workers over time during crises are used to help experts provide early warnings, ground-level location data, and real-time report verification. The new platform for information integration should facilitate these types of preparedness, prevention, and response actions.

The leadership of the new DDR must, therefore, be fully committed to utilize such technologies and be fully resourced to have access to them.

SOURCE:
Romulo, R. (2018, August 3). Huge step towards disaster resilience, Filipino Worldview. Retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/business/2018/08/03/1839051/huge-step-towards-disaster-resilience

By Amb. Roberto R. Romulo

In the book State, Society and National Security”, its editor, Dr. Shashi Jayakumar begins this collection of essays with a conversation. He speaks with Singaporean officials Benny Lim and Peter Ho on, among others, the difference between the concepts of “surprise” and “shock”. They conclude that while we cannot always avoid surprise, we can certainly minimize the possibility of being shocked, and the kind of paralysis that leads to failure.

This reading came to mind for various reasons over the holidays as we heard the news on the destruction and number of deaths caused by Typhoons Vinta and Urduja.

Although this conversation was made in the context of military and cyber security, it applies equally to disaster resilience and the experience of the Philippines as one of the countries who are most at risk to natural climate, weather and geological hazards. As we develop, disaster risk may be generated due to increases in population, urbanization, interdependencies among our technological systems. Disasters are also evolving in new ways, such as the natural-technological disaster that Estancia, Iloilo experienced during Yolanda when the National Power Corporation‟s 35- megawatt power barge rammed into its coast. This resulted in both the loss of power and in a massive oil spill.

As we build our cities, weaknesses in local risk governance affect river flows, air quality and soil quality. When subjected to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions these weaknesses threaten human development and increase the cost of infrastructure. The combination of these hazards, exposure and vulnerabilities constitute the recipe for disasters.

Finally, there is the interaction of hazards such as extreme weather events with exposed and vulnerable populations. National poverty incidence stands at over 21 per cent and Manila alone has approximately four million informal settlers. Unfortunately, the impact of natural disasters on this segment of our population continues to be poorly understood except by policy researchers, civil society organizations and academics. Moreover, the impact of natural hazards in conflict areas – such as the case of Vinta in Mindanao – presents a scenario that is certainly worth of a deeper disaster forensics study.

Given the complexity of disaster risk, the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation, Zuellig Family Foundation, Manila Observatory, SM Prime and the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation have formed a science and technology based public–private partnership known as the National Resilience Council (NRC). Our principal partners are local government units as they have the lead role in disaster risk reduction and in achieving development continuity. NRC has simultaneously engaged directly with the business community, the executive and legislative departments, academia and the civil society sector in order to identify and address the factors that contribute to disasters in each LGU.

Already committed to work with us on achieving a sustainable local economy, resilient human development systems, infrastructure and environment are: Bataan Province, and the cities of Valenzuela, Naga, Iriga, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga. We are building upon the success of the Zuellig Family Foundation‟s Health Resiliency Program, the investor presence of large corporations such as SM and Shell, engagement of civil society groups, and private and public universities to ensure that LGUs bounce forward, instead of just bouncing back from a disaster.

Implementation began this year with a significant investment from Mr. Hans Sy of SM Prime. Through his support and the work of the NRC team led by DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the NRC was recently called “global best practice” by UNISDR Special representative of the Secretary-General Robert Glasser.

NRC’s vision is also supported by an action research grant from the International Development Research Centre of Canada. This will enable the Ateneo de Manila, the Manila Observatory and the NRC to conduct integrated risk assessments and establish multi-stakeholder partnerships for disaster resilience with local governments in Metro Manila, Naga and Iloilo.

We close by urging the private sector to support the NRC in the same way the executive branch has provided funding to insure a truly resilient Philippines.

SOURCE:
Romulo, R. (2018, January 26). A resilient Phl, Filipino Worldview. Retrieved from https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/the-philippine-star/20180126/282050507492897

By Amb. Roberto R. Romulo

I begin this column by quoting Mrs. Toni Yulo-Loyzaga, Chairperson of the International Advisory Board, Manila Observatory:

“The Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) identified four priorities: Understanding risk, Strengthening disaster risk governance, Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience, and, Enhancing preparedness for effective response to build back  better. Perhaps the biggest contribution of SFDRR is to bring into focus the need for collaboration between Government, scientists, civil society and the private sector to accomplish these priorities. The SFDRR goals recognize that socio-economic and ecological sustainability are substantively linked to the exposure and vulnerability of societies to disaster risk.”

With the disastrous effects of typhoon Ondoy in 2009, the government recognized the urgency of having a proactive risk management framework to become more disaster resilient by enacting RA 10121, establishing the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council in May 2010. Likewise, the private sector came together and organized the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation chaired by Manuel V. Pangilinan, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and Cardinal Luis Tagle. Then Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan happened in 2013. There were multiple rehabilitation efforts made by civil society organizations, led by CODE-NGO and PBSP, among others.

ARISE (UNISDR Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies) was launched to support the implementation of SFDRR which was adopted in March 2015, at a UN World Conference in Sendai, Japan. The Philippines joined ARISE in November 2015, under the leadership of Mr. Hans Sy of SM Prime.

While these are clearly commendable initiatives, more often than not, these well-intentioned organizations are moving forward on parallel tracks. It was the intention of the conference on “Building a Disaster Resilient Philippines” held last April 25-26 with the hope of integrating all resilience endeavors on the same track.

During the two-day conference, a consensus was reached that there should be a Multi-Stakeholder Disaster Resilient Advisory Council co-chaired by a private sector CEO and the Secretary of Defense. By its creation, the participants recommended the redrafting of R.A. 10121 to turn it into a full-fledged department signifying “unity of command.” But participants also took cognizance of the fact that legislation considers issues deliberately at perceived glacial speeds. As Senator Bam Aquino interjected: “Of course, the process of  legislation takes some time….mahaba pa po iyan, maganda lang ho dyan is that there’s a lot of opportunity to refine the bill further, to improve the bill and to make it truly something that our communities can be part of.”

In the meantime, the Advisory Council can immediately collaborate on partnerships among government, private sector, CSOs and other institutions with clearly defined roles in disaster response, recovery and rehabilitation.

Another point of view was raised by former DND Secretary Gilbert Teodoro: “There is only one person: The President of the Philippines, by virtue of his supervisory power over the local government agencies… he can call Congress anytime…. to a special session to focus only on amendments to the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Agency Bill. If not, these things will be swept under the rug by other matters… leadership must start at the top.”

Other pertinent points were raised for future legislation: provide easier access to DRRM funds by LGUs; increase investment in Science and Technology as part of overall DRRM; empower the barangay level to undertake frontline work and coordinate with civil society and community members in DRRM and the need to amend laws for emergency procurement.

There was further action points cited: applying market-based instruments to retrofit at risk buildings and residences i.e. seismic certified buildings and dwellings as well as a seismic rating system; incorporate DRRM into DepEd curriculum to foster increased awareness among children and their families and develop metrics for tracking progress in building disaster resilience.

Hopefully, these recommendations are realized soon because the country remains vulnerable to natural disasters. But through multi-stakeholder engagement, improvements can be made at a faster pace so the country can have its much-needed disaster resilient system.

SOURCE:
Romulo, R. (2017, May 5). Consolidating resilience endeavors, Filipino Worldview. Retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/business/2017/05/05/1690941/consolidating-resilience-endeavors

By Amb. Roberto R. Romulo

The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council has enhanced their capability substantially since Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. On the other hand, the private sector pioneered by the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) led by Manuel V. Pangilinan and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala has also done an extremely credible job. Yet neither organization will ever proclaim they are fully prepared, particularly in the case of earthquakes. The key challenge for all is in building a shared scientific understanding of pre- and post-disaster risk in order to jointly develop integrated solutions for national resilience.

Much has been written about the consequences of an earthquake in Metro Manila. MMDA has done as much as can be expected but again much has to be done. The local governments are the front line and much more support and training will be required. More importantly, the general public must be made more aware of their vulnerabilities. The “Bahala Na” attitude must be transformed to a “Be Prepared” commitment. There are also the estimated four million informal settlers in Metro Manila. They deserve much more attention. One important issue that has not been raised in many discussions is whether Metro Manila will be rebuilt (and where?) after it suffers around PhP2.4 Trillion in damage. Is there a there a plan for the region’s disaster recovery? Who will pay for this plan and how?

As previously stated in my last column, it is imperative that the government focus on securing protocols/agreements with foreign governments and multilateral organizations in preparation for future disasters. Allow me to quote from previous columns, examples of how forthcoming foreign countries can be:

“At its peak (Yolanda), the U.S. military efforts included more than 13,400 military personnel, 66 aircraft (including 10 C-130s to augment the AFPs 3 aircraft along with 8 MV-22 Ospreys) and 12 naval vessels. The Americans delivered more than 2,495 tons of relief supplies and evacuated 21,000 people. More than 1,300 flights were completed in support of the relief efforts to approximately 450 sites. American emergency humanitarian aid immediately following the Typhoon helped feed at least 3 million people. They provided basic emergency shelter materials, such as plastic sheeting, tents tools, and rope, to approximately 151,000 households across affected areas. In addition, nearly 38,000 households received support for self-recovery efforts through shelter repair kits, cash transfers and construction materials”.

“Another example would be the case of Yolanda and the South Korean armed forces. After surveying the needs of the population, Korea made a policy decision to stay, on a rotational basis, for a year in Leyte in order to support recovery and reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of Yolanda”.

Even the Chinese donated $2million and belatedly sent a hospital ship.

I am certain that our foreign partners will be equally forthcoming in earthquakes and other future disasters. I know for a fact that foreign embassies are prepared to work with us. But this time, we should prevent and prepare ahead of time. Fortunately, the new Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs Ricky Manalo has agreed to jumpstart this endeavor assigning Undersecretary Ariel Abadilla to take the lead.

On April 25-26, we will host a Conference on “Building a Disaster Resilient Philippines”.

The conference is hosted by the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation, the Zuellig Family Foundation, the PDRF, the Manila Observatory and for the first time, we welcome ARISE Philippines (headed by Mr. Hans Sy). During this two day affair, we aim to consolidate all the efforts described above.

There will be more than 30 speakers representing foreign experts, senior government officials and representatives of the private sector, both corporate and NGOs. Drawing on the presentations and discussions, the conference seeks to identify the gaps in current disaster preparedness, prevention, response and recovery plans both within the public and private sectors and between them.Action plans and recommendations for much needed legislation to support integrated, multi-stakeholder efforts will then be advanced.

The session topics include lessons learned from recent earthquake disasters and pathways to enhancing risk reduction measures. The resilience of our health, infrastructure and local government sectors will be assessed and an overview of pre-disaster recovery planning, policy and practice will be presented. Most importantly, the current legislative agenda on both disaster risk reduction and resilience will be examined along with proponents in Congress and the NDRRMC-OCD.

I draw your attention to the local government portion where speakers will be Mayor Abigail Binay of Makati City; Dr. Cedric Daep, Chief of Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office; Mr. Ritchie Van Angeles, Chief of Pasig City DRRM office and Mayor Melchor Mergal of Salcedo municipality in Eastern Samar.

Speakers on the resilience of our critical infrastructure include: Ed Chua of Shell; DPWH Undersecretary Cathy Cabral, President of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers and Undersecretary of DPWH; Mr. Bill Luz, PDRF; Engineer Erick Sison, President of the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines and urban planners Dr. Arturo G. Corpuz, a board director of Ayala Land and Arch. Nathaniel von Einsiedel whose expertise in disaster recovery and urban planning is well-known.

The final session will encapsulate action plans and legislative proposals which will emerge from all the sessions. We have invited members of the House and Senate to react. To date none have accepted. I hope there will be last minute acceptances who are committed to disaster resilience. It has been said that disasters are really failures of governance. Presumably, all of us understand this.

In conclusion, I quote from UNISDR:

“Weak governance is a driver of disaster risk, and is linked to many other risk drivers such as poverty and inequality, poorly planned urban development… To be most effective in reducing disaster risk, an integrated systems approach to governance, featuring strong coordination across sectors and a delegation of responsibilities to the local level is needed.”

Interested parties may email [email protected]

SOURCE:
Romulo, R. (2017, April 20). Earthquakes: Are we prepared? Filipino Worldview. Retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/business/2017/04/20/1687368/earthquakes-are-we-prepared