OCD holds media caravan on disaster resilience

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff reporter

LAOAG CITY—The Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) continue to intensify its information caravan, engaging media practitioners in Region 1 to increase public awareness on making local communities disaster-resilient.

Melchito Castro, OCD Director in Ilocos region said the second leg of the media caravan kicked off in Dagupan City on May 31 to be followed by Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte this coming June.

The caravan first took off in La Union last April, said Mr. Castro.

“All our media partners are invited to join the caravan where we will discuss with them the protocols and SOPs [standard operating procedures] of the OCD during disaster operations,” he explained.

Just in time for the implementation of the PAGASA modernization act of 2015, Mr. Castro who is in Laoag City on May 30 to attend the internal public hearing on the proposed Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 10692 said there are new protocols/SOPs to improve public information awareness and dissemination procedures.

Mr. Castro said that among these changes include the strengthening of the public information system in the region to the grassroots level and how fast this information reaches our local government units.

He assured the OCD will be closely working together with the modernized PAGASA and the LGUs concerned to provide fast and reliable information services and response during disaster operation.

Based on typhoon history, Mr. Castro said the OCD programs give emphasis to Ilocos Norte as a typhoon path in Northern Luzon where the media plays an important role in public information dissemination.

Two years ago, the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, in its world index report, ranked the Philippines as second among countries at risk due to natural disasters.

The OCD said that all the four Ilocos provinces are included in the top 20 areas at-risk with typhoons, with Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte at 6^th and 7^th places, respectively. La Union and Pangasinan were ranked 15^th and 17^th, respectively.

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