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SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2017
Jimbo Gulle, Editor
Roger Garcia, Issue Editor
LGUs
mslocalgov@gmail.com
SEARCA HEAD GETS SEAMEO AWARD
QC RESCUERS PLACED ON YELLOW ALERT By Rio N. Araja
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NTICIPATING heavy rains due to tropical storm “Gorio,” the Quezon City government on Saturday placed its disaster action team on yellow alert to be ready to respond to areas that could be affected by floods. Elmo San Diego, QC Department of Public Order and Safety chief, said there will be more rains in Metro Manila when “Gorio” gains strength and pulls wind and rain toward the metropolis. A retired police general, San Diego is also the vice chairman of the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. “Expect problems due to incessant rains. The disaster action team is on standby and on-call alert status this weekend,” he said. The team is composed of well-trained emergency responders, including paramedics,
that can perform search and rescue missions on urban, water, and wilderness terrain. The city’s Engineering Department, Parks Development and Administration Department, and the Environment Protection and Waste Management Department—the key departments in maintaining waterways and related structures—are working double time to address clogged drainages and uprooted trees. San Diego reminded all department heads to keep their phone lines open during the weekend and report immediately when needed. “We don’t have to call and call you up. Respond immediately. It is important your line of communication remains open,” he said. San Diego said the emergency operations Center can be reached through 122, 922-3227 and 987-8887. Meanwhile, elementary and high school students in Quezon City were told to be always ready and aware on how to prepare for disasters. The students were among those who attend the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Youth Forum and Expo at the Philippine Information Agency Auditorium on Wednesday. The event was organized by the Office of the Civil DefenseNational Capital Region.
The activity is in line with the National Disaster Resilience Month with the theme: “4Ks: Kamalayan sa Kahandaan, Katumbas ay Kaligtasan.” During the forum, OCD-NCR Regional Director Romulo Cabantac highlighted the concept of “disaster resiliency” to the school children. “It’s important to have activities like this for the children so when disaster comes, they won’t panic, and they’ll be observant and flexible,” Cabantac said. Aside from earthquakes, flood and typhoon preparedness, the students also learned basic life support and knot-tying techniques taught by the members of the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Offices of Quezon City and Pasig. Lesa Ocenar, grade school teacher of San Juan Elementary School, said: “These forums are important for the kids, so at least they know what to do during emergencies. Instead of being a liability, they can even save lives if they have the knowledge like they have today, like CPR.” The Quezon City, Pasig City and Valenzuela City DRRMOs, together with the Lord’s Hand Integrated School and the Office of the Civil Defense, also viewed the exhibit of disaster reduction equipment at the lobby of the PIA office.
By Brenda Jocson LOS BAÑOS, Laguna—Director Gil C. Saguiguit Jr. of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture based here is among the recipients of this year’s Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Service Awards, having meritoriously served the Center for four decades. The SEAMEO Service Award bestows the accolade on outstanding staff of the SEAMEO regional centers, network and secretariat who exemplify excellence and commitment for the success of their respective organizations. The award was presented at the 49th SEAMEO Council Conference (SEAMEC) from July 24 to 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia, which came on the eve of the completion of Saguiguit’s unprecedented third term as SEARCA director. This biennial meeting gathers the Ministers of Education of the 11 SEAMEO member countries in Southeast Asia. The SEAMEO Service Award adds to Saguiguit’s numerous distinctions received from national and international or foreign institutions for his exemplary development work in the agricultural sector. These include the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole (Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit) given by the French government for his efforts to strengthen cooperation between France and the Philippines and Southeast Asia in the areas of agricultural research, education, and culture.
TECH HELPS STRETCH PHILHEALTH’S COVERAGE
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FLOOD SCENES. Heavy monsoon rains caused by Typhoon ‘Gorio’ before the weekend created these scenes, all in Caloocan City. As boys make impromptu skim boards out of pieces of plywood to surf on the flooded streets, girls wade and frolic in the waters, and a bus braves a real deep stretch at the corner of Rizal Avenue Extension and R. Papa Street, as seen from a city traffic monitor. Jun David
PINOYS TOLD: PRIORITIZE PROTECTION, RESILIENCY DISASTER resiliency has become a national concern. From being a mere talk point in meetings, the need to be prepared and protected against the uncertainties of calamities have become so paramount even President Rodrigo Duterte urged the public to treat it as an urgent concern in his recent State of the Nation Address. “While the law is [being] crafted with extreme urgency, we need to undertake immediate action to ensure disaster resiliency and effective response in the greater [Metro] Manila area, which is our country’s seat of governance, center of business, commerce, and the academe,” the President said. “Disaster resiliency of Metro Manila
Local Gov’t Units
and the surrounding provinces is a matter of urgent [national] concern,” he added. Compared to its other Southeast Asian neighbors, our country experiences a wider range of disasters being in the Pacific Ring of Fire and the Pacific Typhoon Belt. From floods to landslides, and typhoons to earthquakes—the most recent of which just happened in Leyte with a magnitude of 6.5—the Philippines continues to endure and survive. The reality of these disasters often permeates long after they strike with total losses amounting to millions, even billions of pesos. At present, the earthquake in Leyte
has left an estimated total of P177 million worth of damage to property in eastern Visayas and damage assessment is still ongoing. The number is overwhelming but pales in comparison to one of the destructive, if not the most destructive typhoons in our history, typhoon "Yolanda," which left a colossal P571.1 billion in total damages, P424.3 billion of which is damage to property. Though the government has currently been prioritizing preparations for and anticipation of these times of emergency through awareness efforts and disaster response drills, self-mitigation is still an area that we can further improve on.
CLIMATE CHANGE BODY TO TRAIN ‘SUC’ TRAINERS
THE Climate Change Commission is set to train faculties of state universities and colleges and national government agencies to mentor local chief executives and development planners as they prepare and update their Local Climate Change Action Plans or LCCAPs. As required by Republic Act No. 9729 or the Climate Change Act of 2009, the LCCAPs will help LGUs to effectively prepare and respond to the adverse effects of climate change in their communities. The first round of trainings, dubbed “Coaches’ Training on the Enhanced LCCAP Guidebook,” was held July 25 to 28 in Quezon City. This undertaking was in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government–Local Government Academy.
Climate Change Secretary Emmanuel de Guzman expects these trainings to expedite the completion of the LCCAPs of all local government units. “Equipping our faculties in state universities and colleges with a set of standard teaching modules on basic analytical and planning tools, called Communities for Resilience (CORE) Modules, will help ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of teaching local officials on risk-and-science-based local development planning,” De Guzman said. “Having an LCCAP also gives the LGU an edge in accessing climate finance as it provides context and justification of any funding request from sources, such as the People’s Survival Fund,” he explained.
Surendra Menon, CEO of the country’s premier bancassurance company, BPI-Philam, learned from the resiliency of Filipinos and their experience in times of crisis, believing this has given them an edge against the unpredictability of nature. “Most Asian countries don’t have typhoons; most of them are prepared for floods, fires, and some earthquakes. But here you have the full range—you have typhoons, you have earthquakes, tsunamis, even volcanoes. Most things about disaster preparedness Filipinos have learned because you’ve gone through it all,” he said. Despite this vast experience of Turn to D2
WATERLILY QUEEN.
Ajer Ashraf, a Filipino lass of mixed ancestry from Barangay Talon 2, Las Piñas City was crowned Miss Waterlily Festival 2017 on Friday. The annual July festival, which aims to promote waterlily-based handicraft, coincides with the birthday of Senator Cynthia Villar, the annual event’s sponsor. Abe Almirol
“BAWAT Filipino, Miyembro, Bawat Miyembro, Protektado, Kalusugan Ng Lahat, Segurado” (Every Filipino is a member. Every member is protected. Everyone’s health is ensured.) The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. was established in 1995 with this vision and has then existed with a mandate to ensure that all Filipinos have comprehensive social health insurance coverage should they need medical attention. To date, the PhilHealth covers about 92 percent of the Filipino population—just a little more and it has accomplished its vision of universal health coverage. While people only think of health insurance when they’re sick, PhilHealth’s vision—which includes ‘Kalusugan Ng Lahat, Segurado” [Everyone’s health is ensured]—also includes plans to sustain a nation of healthy citizens and protect the poor, marginalized and vulnerable Filipinos, as well. A hale and hearty people can focus more on productive pursuits and contribute significantly to a growing economy. Two years ago, PhilHealth’s success run stumbled upon a roadblock. The increase in membership resulted to a rise in claims, and the health insurance agency found out that their existing system could not adequately meet the demands of the mounting scale of available data. They needed a new way of organizing the influx of data and interpreting its strategic and operational implications to have a single version of truth that will allow management to create better programs and make a more informed decision on how these programs can run. To turn their wealth of data into a strategic asset, PhilHealth turned to implement Microsoft’s Power BI. Before the advent of Microsoft Power BI at PhilHealth, data was embedded in the functional reports. One of the advantages of Power BI is shifting the mindset from hindsight to foresight, such as improving PhilHealth’s delivery network of primary care service providers, whose main mission is to minimize patient care through preventive measures in rural health. Sick patients may Turn to D2