Helping government communities to better prepare for disasters | The Final Word
A government initiative seeks to help vulnerable communities better prepare and protect people from disasters through risk communication.
To tell us more is Aletheia Araneta of the National Research Council of the Philippines.
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To tell us more is Aletheia Araneta of the National Research Council of the Philippines.
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Follow our social media pages:
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NewsTranscript
00:00 A government initiative seeks to help vulnerable communities better prepare and protect people
00:06 from disasters through risk communication.
00:08 To tell us more is Alethea Araneta of the National Research Council of the Philippines.
00:15 Ms. Araneta, thank you so much for joining us.
00:17 What are these measures to lessen the effects of natural disasters?
00:21 Hi, good evening Rico.
00:25 Actually our project is focusing on risk communication.
00:27 It's just one key aspect of the whole DRRM or the National Framework on Disaster Risk
00:35 Reduction Management.
00:36 But we feel in our project that it's one of the components that government agencies or
00:43 government, the LGUs probably, tend to overlook because it's probably something that we feel
00:50 is something innate with us.
00:52 But we found out in our study that it's very important to be intentional in including it
00:59 in the planning as part of the risk assessments, even the mapping of hazards and other risks.
01:06 To also include assessment about risk communication.
01:08 What do the communities understand about the risks that they face?
01:12 What are their perceptions of the risks?
01:14 Very important.
01:15 That's how we craft our messages.
01:20 So I believe our project is just one of the many that has been starting.
01:25 I think the country is now realizing, especially in the onset of the pandemic, how key communication
01:30 is in times of crisis or disaster.
01:33 So Ms. Araneta?
01:34 It's a factor that we realized in our study.
01:38 So was there a collaboration, Ms. Araneta, with local authorities or organizations working
01:43 on disaster risk management, on improving communication?
01:47 Yes, so one of the main partners, we partnered with, of course, the local DRM offices.
01:54 And we also asked them, because our project sites are really sitios or barangays, which
02:01 are considered landslide-prone areas.
02:04 Those areas were mentioned by another government project, Project Dynaslope.
02:07 So we worked with the DRM office of the municipal DRM office and some barangay officials.
02:15 So we worked with them.
02:16 This was during the pandemic.
02:17 We started our project during the pandemic.
02:19 So we had to really work remotely.
02:23 And we relied heavily on our partners on the ground to do the coordination, even the workshops.
02:29 So it was very useful for us.
02:33 At the same time, we saw how valuable their relationships with the community is in bringing
02:39 the people to understand more about risk communication.
02:41 So there was really a strong partnership with the DRM office and the barangay officials.
02:46 So based on your research, Ms. Araneta, what are some of the key takeaways or lessons that
02:53 could be valuable for policy makers, practitioners, and other researchers interested in disaster
02:58 risk management?
02:59 Yes, it's very -- those areas that we were able to visit, there's one in Luzon, in Benguet,
03:08 another one in Samar, and another one in Bukidnon.
03:11 It's very important to have that DRM champion in the locality.
03:17 It could be the local chief executive.
03:19 It could be really the DRM officer or just someone in the office that can push for bills
03:27 supporting DRM, putting the right people in place in the office, and strengthening the
03:32 DRM office, mobilizing sector.
03:35 So people, having that champion to push for DRM.
03:40 Another thing is to -- this is one of the recommendations of the study, that we really
03:44 include risk communication assessment as part of the planning when barangays develop their
03:49 barangay DRM plans.
03:53 Most of the assessments are really on the social demographics, socioeconomic, and then
03:57 you have the risk assessments, the mappings, the other technical aspects.
04:03 But it's important to also include in the planning as early as planning to have also
04:08 a risk communication assessment, how do people see the risk, as I mentioned a while ago,
04:14 and have a plan on how to devise a local risk communication strategy.
04:21 Because usually what happens now in our country, there's always the top-down information transfer
04:30 from warnings.
04:31 Of course, it's very useful, lalo na in times of crisis na talagang there's a uniform warning.
04:37 But part of risk communication is also the prevention, the preparation.
04:42 So very localized yung mga information na to.
04:46 We found out in our study na people really --
04:48 Ms. Ronetta?
04:49 -- listen and accept if it's in their local language, if we use local terms familiar to
04:58 them.
04:59 Even --
05:00 Ms. Ronetta?
05:01 And we adapt yung local knowledge nila.
05:03 They feel na they have a contribution to their risk management practices if we incorporate
05:09 yung mga na-mention nila.
05:10 This is how we --
05:11 Ms. Ronetta?
05:12 -- we try to prevent disasters from happening.
05:15 So it's very important that we include that in the planning and the implementation.
05:20 Very useful information and research for disaster risk management.
05:24 Thank you so much for joining us on The Final Word.
05:26 Althea Araneta of the National Research Council of the Philippines.