Samar PDCC convened, launched disaster preparedness activities

By EMY C. BONIFACIO
July 8, 2008

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar  –  Three days after typhoon “Frank” hit Samar, the Samar Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) was first convened last June 24. Mr. Romeo Reales, the Provincial Administrator, issued a memorandum, dated June 23, 2008, in behalf of the governor directing heads of national and local agencies to attend the PDCC meeting at 9:00 A.M., the following day. Despite being questioned for not having followed the protocol where the DILG as the council’s secretariat should formally call on the attendance of all members, Mr. Romeo Reales presided over the said meeting. The late notice sent to the members explains why there were just 15 offices which were represented.

During the said meeting, discussions on the urgency of reactivating the PDCC, reorganizing its membership and the identification of the Area Coordinating Council were recommended. Members were also made to submit assessment reports and actions taken regarding typhoon damages. Deadline for its submission was set last June 26.  The reports will be made as basis for the declaration of a state of calamity in the Province.

It must be recalled that the Office of the Governor has always been under fire by the media for its inability to convene the PDCC for the past six years now. The absence of an Area Coordinating Center, which will serve as the receiving office for all reports of damages and requests for assistance and act as the dispatch center for all rescue and relief operations during calamities, was identified as the reason why no assistance from the national level has been extended to Samareños. Thus, it was resolve that a portion of the governor’s office will be the province’s ACC and that both personnel and communication facilities will be provided in order that such office becomes functional.

Likewise, for several typhoons in the past that hit Samar, government employees were not able to avail of calamity loans from the GSIS. Still, the absence of the PDCC and the inability to comply with the legal requirements in declaring the province under a state of calamity was positively seen as the underlying reason.

In a follow-up meeting held last July 1, 2008, a kick-off activity for the celebration of the National Disaster Preparedness Month that fall on July, was finally drafted. A mass and a motorcade on July 3 will be joined by all member offices. An earthquake drill in selected establishments will be given by the Office of Civil Defense thru the Department of Trade and Industry on the same date.  On July 17-18, at the Provincial Gym, the Boy Scouts of the Philippines will administer First Aid Seminars to teams who will be directly involved in rescue operations. In addition, the Samar State University will conduct an IEC and Geo Hazard Seminar on July 23, 2008 at the SSU campus.  As a culminating activity, the Bureau of Fire will be conducting fire drills on July 30. All these activities were intended to keep everyone informed and be prepared during disasters.