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| Provincial rescue team prepares their equipment (file photo) |
By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff Reporter
Laoag
City—Moving on beyond disaster preparedness,
the Ilocos Norte provincial government has changed its Provincial Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) to a task force on provincial
resiliency meant to include threats on terrorism and possible outbreak of
diseases as part of the action plan.
The new Provincial Resiliency
Task Force (PRTC), Ilocos Norte Governor Ma. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos said aims
to prepare Ilocos Norte for unexpected eventualities based on the province’s
given and uncontrolled situations.
In an emergency meeting
attended by barangay chairpersons living in barangays highly vulnerable to
flooding and landslides, and representatives of the PDRRMC now renamed PRTC, Ms.
Marcos solicited their proposed action plans through a workshop at the
provincial auditorium to cover climate change, El Niño, earthquakes, disease outbreaks,
and terrorist attacks among others.
As several diseases such as dengue,
chikungguniya, HIV/AIDS and typhoid had figured in the province lately, Ms. Marcos
said there is a need to take all these resiliency issues seriously.
“It’s a big deal to be
prepared. A lot of things can be prepared for. The other things you can’t
prepare but you also have to be able to have a quick response or an early
recovery. So, we really need to practice,” Ms. Marcos said after attending the
World Cities Summit in Singapore to build resilience.
Citing the proximity of China
to Ilocos Norte, Ms. Marcos also noted the need to build an instant emergency
reaction in case of terrorist attacks or of war.
“Nakakapraning nga ‘yung giyera but siempre, nagkakainitan na sa Spratlys at medyo frontline na naman
tayo diyan dahil napakalapit natin sa China e hindi tayo nakakasigurado. We should always be prepared so that
our people are protected from any kind of attack,” she said.
Taking its cue from the
experiences of other countries, Ilocos Norte has adopted several ways to build
community resilience both in rural and urban barangays here.
After identifying at least 70
affected Barangays, 14 of which belong to the most vulnerable barangays, each of
the barangay chairpersons and PRTC members, composed of the Philippine National
Police, Maritime, Philippine Army, Coastguard, Provincial Health Office,
Environment and Natural Resources Office, Provincial Social Welfare and
Development Office, Engineering, and Office of the Barangay Affairs among
others, shared inputs on how to specifically create a resilient province,
towns, cities and villages in times of need.
As heavy rains brought about
by a low pressure area engulfed northern Luzon, Ilocos Norte has started to
preposition its heavy equipment from strategic places both in the first and
second districts of the province.
Cluster towns and barangays
particularly those in low-lying areas and other vulnerable areas were
formed for better coordination and quick response operation.
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