by Angelique Evangelista and Nicole Marie Clanor

Themed “4Ks Kamalayan sa Kahandaan Katumbas ay Kaligtasan,” around 120 participants composed of barangay captains, nutrition scholars, barangay nutrition scholars, health workers, daycare workers, and MDRRM council members took part in the training on camp coordination and camp management from August 1-3 at the Multipurpose Room of the Los Baños Municipal Building in Brgy. Timugan.

Organized by the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) of Los Baños, the training aimed to raise awareness on disaster preparedness and build capacities of community representatives in coordinating and managing evacuation centers or camps in the different barangays of Los Baños. (Photo courtesy of Almarvez Dizon Luiza Louise)

According to Cynthia Quintans, the Los Baños Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (MDRRM) officer, the activity aimed to empower communities by helping the barangays ensure that the evacuation center facilities are kept in good working condition. The MDRRM Office aims to accomplish this by training teams of community representatives who will oversee the management and operations of the community evacuation centers.

The three-day training tackled topics including introduction to disaster risk disaster management, overview of community hazards and vulnerability, humanitarian response, and family preparedness.

Jessie Jerusalem, SWO II-DM from the Department of Social Welfare and Development Regional Office IV-A, shared his experience in responding to disaster and the Sendai framework, as well as disaster risk reduction and management laws.

According to the United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction is a “15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders.” The framework aims for the “substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries.”

Jerusalem emphasized that Republic Act (RA) 10121 or “An Act Strengthening The Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction And Management System, Providing For The National Disaster Risk Reduction And Management Framework And Institutionalizing The National Disaster Risk Reduction And Management Plan protects and upholds the rights of the evacuees.

Christina Tatoy, SWO II-CBU led the discussion on hazards in the community and in disaster management. Tatoy also facilitated a workshop entitled “Camp Management Facebook Challenge” to aid in the discussion of camp coordination and camp management framework.

During the second day of the training, Jerusalem discussed information management and facilitated a workshop on child protection rapid assessment.

Evangeline Bacani, a barangay nutrition scholar in Baybayin, found the training helpful especially for barangay representatives. She emphasized the importance of making the best use of opportunities such as the training to better prepare themselves and their communities during in the event of disasters.

As part of the training synthesis, a simulation activity on camp coordination and camp management was conducted during the last day of the training to test how much the participants learned from the three-day training.

With the conduct of the training on camp coordination and camp management, the MDRRM Office hope that the evacuees will feel that their basic needs are met and are provided for despite of being in the evacuation center. Aside from these, the training completion hopes to make evacuees feel secure in the evacuation centers as well as having a sense of privacy and a source of livelihood.