Cebu PB Member Wants Disaster Body to be Made Permanent

Cebu Provincial Board (PB) Member Celestino Martinez III is pushing for an ordinance seeking to make the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) permanent.

“We’ve seen the need for continuous monitoring because disasters occur anytime. We should make it (PDRRMO) a permanent office,” Martinez said.

Martinez, who authored the ordinance creating the PDRRMO, said that once it becomes permanent, its duties and responsibilities become clear and will trickle down to the barangay or village level.

This will make preparations for disasters more effective, he said.

The Cebu PB has approved the proposed ordinance on first reading but will scrutinize it further in the second reading.

As proposed, the PDRRMO, which is headed by Baltazar Tribunalo, will “facilitate and support risk assessments and contingency planning activities” at the provincial level and consolidate all information from local disaster risk offices to be disseminated to the public.

The PDRRMO will also be tasked to operate an “all-hazard early warning system” to provide accurate and timely advice to the people.

Northern Cebu was one of the areas in central Philippines which was devastated by super typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

The province was also hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake less than a month before the howler struck. (PNA) FPV/EB/EDS