Press Release
May 5, 2009

'Dante' underscored need for disaster risk reduction measures -- Loren

Senator Loren Legarda said today that the death toll from the floods and landslides in the Bicol region due to tropical storm "Dante" underscored the need for the Philippines to fast-track the implementation of disaster risk reduction measures, including the identification of disaster-prone areas and the relocation of their residents to safer sites.

Loren lamented that despite the identification of at least 36 areas in Bicol by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) as being prone to floods and landslides, little seemed to have been done to relocate residents from danger areas.

The death toll from "Dante" had hit 23 as of yesterday, including scores who were buried by landslides.

The IDRC, in coordination with the Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA) recently released climactic hazards maps at the Manila Golf and Country Club, identifying vulnerable provinces and districts in Southeast Asia.

The IDRC climactic hazards maps identified 14 areas in the Philippines where disaster risk reduction measures are needed immediately, although it stressed that the entire Philippines is generally at risk from natural disasters.

Named as a United Nations regional champion for disaster risk reduction in Asia-Pacific, Loren said that more detailed geo-hazard mapping of vulnerable areas in the country is needed.

"The Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the many concerned agencies under it should complete and continuously update the geo-hazard mapping of our country so that danger areas can be avoided," said Loren.

"This must be done in close coordination with local government units (LGUs), down to the barangay level, since they are in direct contact with the population. Disaster risk reduction is the concern of all, from the grassroots of society up to the global community of nations," she added.

Loren pointed out that the UN has been moving to minimize the negative effects of natural disasters and calamities by urging countries to incorporate disaster mitigation and risk reduction measures into their policies and

As a whole, the Philippines is vulnerable to tropical storms, floods, landslides, droughts and sea-level rise, the senator said, citing the IDRC study.

The early onset of rains in what should still be the summer season in the Philippines is being blamed on climate change brought about by global warming, a phenomenon resulting from increased greenhouse gas emission, among other factors.

"As could be seen in the IDRC climactic hazards maps released by EEPSEA, the entire Philippines has been marked "red," signifying its vulnerability to practically all disasters associated with climate change," she said.

EEPSEA and IDRC used as basis of the maps the past and current exposure to climate hazards of 530 sub-national areas in Southeast Asia.

A total of 341 districts in Indonesia, 19 provinces in Cambodia, 17 provinces in Lao PDR, 14 areas in Malaysia, 14 areas in the Philippines, 72 provinces in Thailand, and 53 provinces in Vietnam were identified in the IDRC maps as disaster-risk areas.

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