ILOILO CITY — The partnership between the local government and a private higher education institution here — University of Iloilo-Phinma — will further strengthen the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Resiliency (ICDRR) hub.
Donna Magno, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), in an interview today, said that UI-Phinma through its Information Technology program, will “develop and provide animations that will tell stories about responsibilities of every person in relation to disaster risk reduction management.”
Also, the university will conduct a pilot test for the flood monitoring and early warning device developed by its students. It will be piloted in Barangay Sooc, Arevalo.
A memorandum on this was signed between the city government and the B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University (JBLFMU) Friday last week.
The ICDRR also known as Kabalaka Gallery is located inside the JBLFMU-Molo campus.
This city government had also entered into an agreement with the West Visayas State University (WVSU) College of Mass Communication and the JBLFMU for the operation of the hub.
The hub has three zones to include information, learning and “kabalaka”, which means worrying over or caring. The information zone talks about hazards and disaster timeline, among others. The learning zone talks about what to do about before, during and after disasters, risks, games and other how to do materials. The kabalaka area talks about the initiatives of the city government in line with DRR.
The WVSU produced short films on handling persons with disabilities (PWDs) during disasters while JBLFMU produced videos on how to prepare kits and how to use scarf during disaster.
“We dubbed this as the first DRR hub in the country,” Magno said.
The hub was recognized as one of the country’s best practices in an event organized by the Local Government Academy (LGA) of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Galing Pook Foundation.
She said that Iloilo City and Batanes were chosen to present during the two-day “Festival of Best Practices” social resiliency category held in Manila last week. (PNA)
