In line with the celebration of the National Disaster Resilience Month, the LCC Secretariat joined and supported the DepEd Central Office-Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRMS), in partnership with different national government agencies (NGAs), nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and the private sector, on its conduct of different activities on disaster preparedness and resiliency held on June 23-25, 2019 at the Bulwagan ng Karunungan, DepEd, Pasig City.
DepEd Undersecretary for Administration, Alain Del B. Pascua, and Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs and External Partnerships Service, and Project Management Service, Tonisito M.C. Umali, Esq. shared different intensified DepEd initiatives on ensuring the disaster preparedness of the schools and personnel across the country during the event. It also featured a series of forum focusing on disaster preparedness and resiliency during earthquakes, especially “The Big One,” and fires; and showcased relative partners’ efforts through interactive display booths. The 3-day activity aimed to educate the DepEd central office staff with the national government’s harmonized efforts and contingency plan on the said matter, and equip them with essential disaster preparedness skills and protocols.
As emphasized by the Undersecretary for Disaster Risk and Reduction-Climate Change Adaptation (DRR-CCA), Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Officer-in-Charge of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), Dr. Renato U. Solidum, Jr., “We must follow 3Rs. Remember (the lessons from major disasters), Reinvent (or change the way we think and act towards disasters) and Resiliency (recover, if applicable)… Preparedness and response go together… As DepEd, you have the role to help others.” He ended his speech by reiterating to everyone Benjamin Franklin’s quote, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
