MANILA – The council’s “Ready to Rebuild Program” has been expanded by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), Office of Civil Defense, and the World Bank (WB) through the conduct of four training runs from January to June this year.
NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad said in a statement Tuesday night that the initiative supports ongoing rehabilitation efforts of communities severely hit by disasters.
“Rehabilitation and recovery do not begin only after calamities strike. We must start this process even before disasters hit,” Jalad said.
The four training runs are apart from the first four training batches conducted and completed last year, he noted.
“That’s the only way we can hasten our rebuilding after devastation, especially now that Typhoon Odette has reminded us once more how disasters ravage our communities and set back our development,” Jalad said.
“Odette”, said to be one of the strongest typhoons to hit the country in recent years, made nine landfalls between December 16 and 17 in the provinces of Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte, Southern Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, and Palawan.
The fifth batch of the capacity building program, which ran from January 17 to February 2, prioritized the participation of 35 local government units (LGUs) from five “Odette”-affected regions to empower them in building back better, faster, and greener.
They are joined by 16 non-“Odette”-affected LGUs to round out the 51 participating local governments from 12 regions across the country.
So far, the initiative has benefited a total of 197 provinces, cities, and municipalities across all 17 regions.
Currently, a total of 287 trainees are gaining knowledge from disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) experts, including technical experts to strengthen their capacity to deal with the aftermaths of disasters.
Local chief executives and technical staff – DRRM officers, planners, engineers, budget officers, and social workers – apply their learnings to complete and formulate their communities’ science-based pre-disaster baseline data, local disaster risk financing strategies, and local rehabilitation and recovery programs.
“Through the Ready to Rebuild Program, we are changing mindsets for pre-disaster rehabilitation and recovery. We are enabling local governments to put this at the forefront of DRRM planning and activities instead of as an afterthought,” WB senior disaster risk management specialist Lesley Jeanne Cordero said.
They are also making sure that trainees would be equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, and tools as they “make the shift from reactive to proactive policies,” Cordero noted.
“This way, communities can have a head start for an inclusive and resilient recovery when disasters come their way,” she added.
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, as well as regional offices of the National Economic and Development Authority and the Department of Tourism, were among the national government agencies that took part in the fifth training run, which focused on the recovery of key sectors like tourism and shelter.
The “Ready to Rebuild Program” would complement the USD200 million dollars (PHP10 billion) withdrawn from the WB standby loan facility after the declaration of a state of calamity for Typhoon Odette response and recovery efforts, Cordero said.
Meanwhile, Jalad stated that the R2R Program’s local recovery plans and outputs could expedite access to the National DRRM Funds and other resources.
Registration for the sixth batch of the training program, which runs from February 21 to March 11, is currently open, with limited slots available.
LGUs that have not yet completed the training should contact the Ready to Rebuild Program Secretariat at ready2rebuild@gmail.com to reserve a slot.
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