To further strengthen Davao City’s resilience against natural disasters, the 21st City Council on Tuesday approved two landmark measures institutionalizing key disaster preparedness tools aimed at ensuring proactive planning and faster community response.
The first measure institutionalizes the Climate and Disaster Risk Assessment (CDRA) as an essential tool in urban planning, infrastructure development, environmental management, and disaster risk reduction and management across all city government offices.
The second measure adopts and institutionalizes the Davao City Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (MHEWS) Handbook, which provides guidelines for implementation, coordination, monitoring, and funding, including regular updates and systematic reviews.
Both ordinances were authored by Councilor Alberto Ungab, who emphasized during Tuesday’s Pulong-Pulong sa Dabawenyo media forum that these measures will significantly improve the city’s capacity to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to disasters.
“The CDRA is a climate and disaster risk report, and all of that should be incorporated in any plan of the city government. It should be mainstreamed and made part of the city’s land use and investment planning, including the Local Development Investment Plan (LDIP),” he said.
Ungab explained that the institutionalization of the CDRA ensures that disaster and climate risk data will guide local government decision-making, especially in the development of infrastructure and land use policies.
Meanwhile, the MHEWS Handbook provides barangays and local offices with a step-by-step guide for proactive measures in times of emergencies.
Ungab said that the system empowers communities, particularly volunteers, to monitor signs of potential disasters such as rising water levels in rivers and relay information to the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) for faster response.
“Those in far-flung areas might take time before response teams arrive. If you have trained people in that area, at least in a small way, they can already start responding,” Ungab said.
He added that the goal is to equip communities with knowledge and coordination systems so that they know what to do even before disaster strikes.
“We cannot always live in reactionary situations. We have to plan and execute a plan before it happens,” he stressed.
Under the new ordinance, the CDRRMO will serve as the lead implementing office for the Multi-Hazard Early Warning System, coordinating with barangays and relevant agencies to ensure timely dissemination of alerts and mobilization of response efforts.
