DSWD launches Virtual Operations Center for disaster management

• Source: http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/221470302988/dswd-launches-virtual-operations-center-for-disaster-management
• Friday, August 5, 2016

(DSWD/RJJB/lfb/PIA-NCR)

QUEZON CITY, August 5, (PIA) -- Information on government’s disaster management and response is now made readily available to the public through the Virtual Operations Center (VOC), launched this morning by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through its Disaster Response and Management Bureau (DReAMB).

The development of the operations center is in line with Section V, Rule III of the Implementing Rules and Regulation of Republic Act 10121—otherwise known as the “Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.″

This is in support to Executive Order No. 2, series of 2016 of President Rodrigo R. Duterte entitled: “Operationalizing in the Executive Branch the People’s Constitutional Right to Information and the State Policies to Full Public Disclosure and Transparency in the Public Service and Providing Guidelines Therefore”.

“We want the public to have more access to government information and services that they can use to secure and promote their welfare and safety during disasters. Information is power, and we want this power to be used by Filipinos so they themselves can find means to prepare for calamities and help themselves immediately when calamities strike,” DSWD Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo earlier statement.

On his part, Director Felino O. Castro, OIC Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center and the Virtual OpCen who presented the project said, “It is our goal to continually improve the mechanisms for disaster response. The sharing of information through this facility is a very important step towards attaining our shared vision for disaster response.”

Castro added, “Information is power, and we want this power to be used by Filipinos so they themselves can find means to prepare for calamities and help themselves immediately when calamities strike. The VirtualOpCen is one of our efforts to bring information closer to the people.”

The public can view and download information through the site on: Hazards, through the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and partner-agencies of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST); exposure datasets from the Philippine Statistics Authority and the DSWD Listahanan; datasets of evacuation centers; situational reports on DSWD response to disasters; status of relief resources and standby funds available for disaster response; and, predictive analytics and maps for situational awareness and visualization.

The lifeblood of the Virtual OpCen is the committed, vibrant, pro-active “nagmamalasakit” DSWD disaster response community from the municipal and provincial links, Social Welfare and Development Teams (SWADT), Regional and Central Office staff committed to the vision for disaster response to

become the world’s standard in the promotion of a safe and resilient Filipino Society. It is the DSWD’s vision to provide timely, inclusive, apolitical, accountable, efficient, and effective services in the management of disaster response.

The Virtual OpCen may be accessed through the DSWD website at http://www.dswd.gov.ph or directly at http://dromic.dswd.gov.ph