Pursuant to Republic Act No. 10121, known as the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Act of 2010, Cebu Technological University responds to the national call in strengthening disaster management in the country being prone to hazards.
The university certainly understands the gravity of the phenomena and their effects to communities not informed about basic preparedness mechanisms.Having its campuses stationed along the coastline, CTU admits the urgency of establishing emergency action plans. The administration sees the need to mobilize individuals to manage risks.
Engr. Asuncion Monsanto, NSTP coordinator (Main Campus), spearheaded the seminar-workshop on August 30 to keep CTU personnel attuned to the mandate of the Philippine government. It ensures that everyone is involved in acting upon the dangers that may move along the direction of people’s initiative to bring about change in society.
Resource speakers were former Vice Mayor Alfredo Arquillano Jr., Atty. Joel M. Seno, Ms. Rizajoy Hernandez and Capt. Rafhael R. Luche.
Being a United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) awardee, Arquillano shared the best practices in managing disaster risks and adapting to climate change in San Francisco, Camotes. He showed videos of residents in action that resulted in a better community.
Atty. Joel Seno also highlighted the key concepts promoted by the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System (PDRRMS) and Incident Command System (ICS).
“Risk management is education. We need leaders who can find multiple opportunities toward increasing collaboration. We play a very important role as educators.”
Educators are expected to lead some 40,000 students in CTU’s twenty campuses across Cebu Province. The need to empower a big population is key to making a resilient community. This was discussed by Capt. Rafhael R. Luche, PDDRMO training officer, whose ideas inculcated the essence of units to respond to circumstances.”The student-based response group must be promoted as the Cebu provincial governor has high hopes in this initiative,” Capt. Luche said.
PDDRMO has already established ties with CTU through the ROTC units trained in basic life support. He also announced that the trainees are to undergo the Emergency Response Training (ERT). This was supported by Ms. Hernandez who spoke about the non-structural approach to disaster management that includes, among others, training the disaster responders.
The speakers campaigned for CTU’s commitment to making things work in the context of disaster preparedness. Emergency action plans and the functional organizational charts served as outputs. (UPO)