LEGAZPI CITY – The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) 5 (Bicol) announced that PHP10 million in standby funds have been allocated to support various local government units (LGUs) across the region’s six provinces in the event of a calamity.
During the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum held on Tuesday at the regional OCD office in Camp Simeon Ola, OCD-5 Director Claudio Yucot explained that the annual PHP10 million budget could be used to procure non-food items for LGUs affected by disasters.
"We have a PHP10 million budget for the procurement of non-food items, such as tarpaulins, galvanized iron sheets, and repair kits, which can be provided to those affected by calamities," Yucot said.
He added that the OCD, as a centralized body, possesses large machinery and equipment that can be requested from the central office during disasters. This includes water filtration equipment capable of producing 50,000 liters of clean water for affected communities. Additionally, the OCD provides financial assistance to validated calamity victims, amounting to PHP10,000 and PHP5,000.
**Contingency Planning and Training**
Yucot emphasized that the OCD has shifted from a reactive to a proactive approach.
"Contingency planning involves analyzing specific potential events or emerging situations that might threaten society or the environment and establishing arrangements in advance for timely, effective, and appropriate responses," he said.
He noted that OCD-5 conducts a series of skills training and capacity-building activities to help LGUs and national government agencies develop their contingency plans for the most probable and impactful hazards.
"OCD-Bicol has trained eight batches of incident command system (ICS) instructors to educate local government units and response agencies on this response management tool. The ICS aims to ensure the safety of responders, achieve tactical objectives, and use resources efficiently," Yucot added.
Additionally, Yucot reported that 246 disaster risk reduction management practitioners have been trained as speakers, subject matter experts, and facilitators to emphasize the importance of the ICS in the region. (PNA)
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