CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) assures that Pampanga is ready for the rainy season.
During the quarterly meeting of the PDRRM Council, PDRRMO Chief Angelina Blanco reported that about 14.39 kilometers was desilted in eight barangays in the towns of Candaba, Apalit, Arayat, and Lubao from January to June this year.
“This is one way to prevent flooding. We are also continuously doing other flood mitigation projects in coordination with our district engineering offices. These include infrastructure projects, drainages, rehabilitation, restoration, repair, slope and dike protection, as well as prepositioning of resources on strategic locations,” Blanco said.
She added that the provincial government has already prepared the evacuation centers in the municipalities of Magalang, Lubao, Mexico, Porac, and Floridablanca in case of flooding and other hazards.
Aside from this, the PDRRM officer cited the provincial government’s land banking efforts, as well as the establishment of covered courts which are convertible to evacuation centers in the towns of Masantol, Apalit, Macabebe, San Luis, and Candaba.
Meanwhile, Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office reported that food packs for at least 40,000 to 50,000 families are available at the different warehouses of the province.
Aside from the food packs, the PDRRMO said there are other available food items like rice, sardines, and corned beef; as well as non-food items including 800 pieces of sleeping mats, 4,000 packs of women’s undergarments, and 700 boxes of hygiene kits.
The province has also released a total of 5,000 pieces of empty sacks for sandbagging operations from January to May 2022.
“In terms of heavy equipment and mobilization assistance, other agencies including the Provincial Engineering Office, General Services Office, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Armed Forces of the Philippines also assured and confirmed their readiness and cooperation during the rainy season and in different rescue operations,” Blanco said.
She also assured that the province’s response teams are well-trained in different capabilities including collapsed structure search and rescue, vehicular extrication, water search and rescue, fire rescue, first aid, and basic life support to prepare for any disaster that might strike the province.
PDRRMO has also been active in its information dissemination activities to inform the public on important weather and hazards-related announcements, and in updating its emergency hotline numbers for immediate response.
“We have already taken all the preparatory actions, but since disasters are inevitable and often occur without any early warnings, we have capacitated our local DRRMOs, barangays, and communities to become more proactive,” Blanco said.
District hospitals were also provided advisories for the facilities, resources, and teams to be on standby for possible response augmentation.