ILOILO CITY — Eighteen of 20 target disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) training courses for Western Visayas this year have been completed, the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) here has said.
“We’re done with 18, so we are left with two,” Melissa Banias, OCD 6 (Western Visayas) chief of the Capability Building Section, said Friday.
The two remaining training courses are contingency planning for Capiz, slated to be held on Sept. 19-21; and contingency planning for Mt. Kanlaon, to be held in Bacolod City next week.
The client of the OCD came from the 14 vulnerable or basic sectors that were identified by the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC). They are composed of volunteer groups, persons with disability, farmers, fisherfolk, rebel returnees, and Indigenous Peoples (IP), among others.
Banias said after the identification of the sector by the NAPC, the OCD coordinated with concerned agencies for the participants. To date, they have already trained about 700 individuals coming from these sectors.
The topics discussed included the Philippine DRRM system and different kinds of natural and human-induced hazards.
The training session also included DRRM applications to determine how they apply DRRM in their daily lives.
“We generate their commitment, what they can contribute to the society after knowing all these,” she said.
However, she emphasized that they continue to extend technical assistance to local government units and the private sector.
“We prepare the module and invite speakers,” she added. (Perla Lena/PNA)
