Fire Prevention Month has been observed every year since 1966 per Presidential Proclamation No. 115-A, but still, fire continues to cause destruction in the lives and properties of thousands of Filipinos.

2011 has just started but CDRC, which maintains its own disaster database, already recorded 27 fire incidents.

In 2010, as in previous years, fire outnumbered other disasters. There were 123 recorded incidents. Fire also made it to the top 5 disasters with the most number of affected persons in the year 2010. Almost 100,000 were directly affected by fire.

Majority of these incidents occurred in urban centers. The congested areas with its narrow streets, poor housing materials, and fire-hazard electrical installations make it easy for fire to spread swiftly and widely.

So how can we prevent destructive fires from occurring? Here are some tips:

1.Do not put easy to burn or inflamable things near the stove or heater.

2. Always check your electrical installations. If damaged, fix them to avoid fire.

3. Use electrical outlets based on their capacity. Avoid “octopus connection.”

4. Make sure that a fire extinguisher or buckets of water are readily within reach inside houses, offices, and schools. Learn how to use fire extinguisher.

5. Do not leave the kitchen when you are cooking.

6. Check the gas hose if it is properly installed in the tank and stove. Change damaged hose.

7. Check the gas tank before going to bed. See to it that you do not leave anything in the kitchen that would cause fire. Most fire incidents ccur at night.

8. Always turn off electric iron if you are going to do something else.

9. Follow instructions on the proper use of electric appliances.

10. Make sure that matches and lighters are out of children’s reach.

11. Do not smoke inside the bedroom especially if you are drunk.

12. Post the directory of fire stations in prominent places of the house or building for easy communication access in times of emergency.

WALL CALENDAR

CDRC’s Disaster Preparedness Calendar features the winning entries in the 2009 ABKD (Apoy, Bagyo, Kalamidad: Dibuhong Pambata) poster-making contest for children aged 7-12 years old. This calendar is distributed to schools and communities to promote disaster preparedness. This was produced under the Caritas Switzerland-funded project: “Enhancing Flood Preparedness and Helping the Survivors of Supertyphoon Reming Help Themselves”.

PLANNER

CDRC’s Disaster Preparedness Planner also features the winning ABKD entries. It also  includes disaster preparedness tips to promote awareness and knowledge on what to do during disasters. This was produced to promote the MICRODIS Project or the Integrated Health, Social and Economic Impacts of Extreme Events under the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission.

DESK CALENDAR

The Desk Calendar features the MICRODIS survey conducted in different countries in Europe and Asia on the impact of disasters to communities. CDRC is one of the partner organizations involved in this project.

The Philippines is undoubtedly a disaster-prone country (both natural and human-induced) yet what we have is just Presidential Decree No. 1566, a 31-year-old law which merely focuses on short-term preparedness and emergency response.

Lack of a clear law to address DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT (DRRM) has only hurt the communities more, especially the poor and marginalized. Latest to strike were typhoon Ondoy last September 26, which left more than a million people homeless and damaged PhP 4.7 billion worth of properties; and Pepeng a week later, which left 375 people dead and damaged PhP 1.8 billion worth of crops. At least 25 typhoons hit the country yearly, putting more poor communities in distress.

But all is not too late. Pending at the 14th Congress is the DRRM Bill which seeks to create a new policy but to expand coverage of PD No. 1566, helping communities to prepare for disasters, reduce risks and become more resilient even in the face of worst calamities.

With eight days to go before the 14th Congress adjourns, the DRR NETWORK PHILIPPINES* urges lawmakers to finally pass the DRRM Bill (House Bill 6985 version). It firmly believes that while calamities cannot be avoided, our legislators could do something to help communities prepare for and mitigate effects of disasters.

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*DRR Network Philippines is a national tertiary formation of more than 300 Philippine and international civil society organizations, communities, practitioners and advocates adhering to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) on disaster risk reduction and management and implementing community-based disaster risk management. CDRC is a member of the network.

Aside from the natural disasters that reap an especially heavy human toll each year, thousands are also displaced by human-made disasters like armed conflict and development aggression. The intensifying effect of climate change also aggravates the already burdened citizens with the worsening economic instability worldwide.

Given this reality, the urgency for a comprehensive disaster management system and program is paramount.

Unfortunately, what we currently have in so far as government response is concerned is a national coordinating committee  which as the name implies coordinates and meets only  when a typhoon is about to strike the country.  At the local level, effectiveness of the said structure is uneven with some focused only on the release of their calamity funds which later on became a source of corruption. Only a few exceptional cases led by the local disaster committees were able to go beyond their limited resources and muster the heroic volunteerism of the ordinary citizen.

While we commend the initiatives of enacting the Philippine Disaster Risk Management Act of 2008, we at the CDRC, together with our network of regional centers throughout the country, are pushing for a comprehensive and pro-people disaster management approach that will truly address the people’s needs.

First, a comprehensive disaster management bill has to adequately address the root causes of people’s vulnerabilities to disasters. The people’s poor economic condition only aggravates their situation during disasters. The poor are the most vulnerable sector when calamities strike, making it imperative to address poverty in disaster management.

Second, a comprehensive disaster management bill has to rely on building people’s capacities toward attaining disaster-resiliency through the community-based disaster management approach. It should highlight a proactive disaster management scheme, giving emphasis on people’s participation, prioritizing the most vulnerable groups, families, and people in the community. It should adopt risk reduction measures which are community-specific and enhance the existing coping mechanisms and capacities within the community. It should recognize the supporting and facilitating role of the less vulnerable sectors. It should be linked with the overall development framework.  Its efforts should strengthen the people’s organizations at the grassroots level and provide positive conditions for the poorest of the poor to be organized as disaster committees on the level of their communities.

Third, the bill should also define comprehensive and concrete disaster management programs and services that focus not only during the relief and emergency phases but also more importantly on the pre and post calamity phases of disasters. It should provide a comprehensive, all-hazard, multi-sectoral, inter-agency and community-based approach to disaster risk reduction emphasizing on disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and rehabilitation.  In addition, this bill should be bold enough to protect the majority of the Filipinos who comprise the most vulnerable sectors all the necessary protections from all form of deprivations and exploitation from both internal and external aggressors who hide under the title of development projects and recite the all too worn out formula of “free market forces and considerations.”

Fourth, any bill which would address disaster in order to be truly effectively managed and implemented should set up machinery which would be free from the influence and depredations of politics and any undue influence of religion, gender and race.  In order to guarantee this, an independent body of civilian led and citizenry-based machinery should be set-up at the national level and organize up to the level of the barangays.

Since armed conflict is turning to be one of the major human-made disaster concerns – it is but appropriate to separate the efforts of the military and police to attend to disasters as part of their civil-military operations from that of a  truly independent and “neutral” effort.  In addition, the military and police in turn could be well utilized on the more urgent and technical work of rescue where their expertise could be put to best use.

Of course, the machinery we have in mind though independent should be within the ambit of government and promote the values and principles of the latter as enshrined in the constitution.  In fact, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Anti Poverty Commission could effectively run this machinery which could be in the form of a commission or whatever this august body may deem more appropriate.

In lieu of the military and police forces, the efforts of the civilian body could enlist the participation of established religions and churches who had put up their unblemished reputation on helping the poor.

Without imposing, the bill should be able to monitor efforts of other NGOs and corporate entities and provide an effective venue for pooled resources and efforts based on voluntary cooperation.

And in the very end, the effectiveness of this “disaster bill” would be proven its real worth on the day when it shall conclude that there is not much more work for it to do as the conditions both natural and societal have improved to a point that no major danger or vulnerability is left for it to attend to on a full time basis.  This is a dream all right but would be sufficient to guide the course of action of any individual, group, institution or organization who would like to address the issue of disaster.  #