OCD commemorates Yolanda with disaster risk reduction conference in Samar

MANILA, Philippines – Taking the lessons taught by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) 6 years since its onslaught, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) conducted a disaster risk reduction conference at Guiuan, Eastern Samar on Saturday, November 9. 

In collaboration with Eastern Samar State University (ESSU), the conference aimed to enhance knowledge and understanding of various natural hazards, recognized the importance of disaster risk reduction management (DRRM), and share DRRM interventions and practices used by Eastern Samar after Yolanda. 

Super Typhoon Yolanda left more than 6,000 people dead and caused massive destruction when it battered Eastern Visayas on November 8, 2013. It was in Guiuan where Yolanda made its first landfall. 

To prevent this devastation and casualties from happening again, Interagency Task Force Yolanda Chair and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles shared the importance of developing disaster risk reduction frameworks and plans. 

Nograles also tackled the value of having a more integrated DRRM in the region. (READ: 6 years after Yolanda, hundreds of families yet to rebuild houses) 

“We will continue to discuss ways to respond more effectively and efficiently while also remembering to involve and capacitate our communities. The goal shall always be zero casualty,” Nograles said.

Meanwhile, OCD Rehabilitation and Recovery Management Service (RRMS) Director Edgar Posadas stressed the importance of recognizing the value of empowering people to help in the effort to build national resilience.

“Our experience with Yolanda embodies the uniqueness of a Filipino’s resilience even when major disasters strike,” Posadas said. 

During the conference, ESSU students, local DRRM officers, and other DRRM partner stakeholders participated in activities which included static display and exhibit, a simulation exercise demonstration, and lectures on climate change, Philippine DRRM system, and understanding hazards among others. – Rappler.com