LGUs to include PWDs in their disaster management plans

• Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2015/09/26/lgus-include-pwds-their-disaster-management-plans-432582
• Saturday, September 26, 2015

By Oscar C. Pineda

PERSONS with disabilities (PWD) are now considered in the disaster risk reduction management plan of every local government unit, Capitol disaster czar Baltazar Tribunalo said.

This, as disabled people’s organizations (DPO) have mapped out their disability-inclusive disaster risk-reduction (DiRR) plan for UN Disaster Day.

Aloy Cañete, executive director of Alternative to Development (A2D) project, said the old view in disaster preparedness plans was how to rescue PWDs during calamities.

“We are persons with abilities, wala lang mi tagai og opportunity nga ma-train (We are not trained),” Cañete quoted one complaint of PWDs.

They said they want to have a major role in disaster preparedness planning.

Cañete said their goal is to put in the mainstream the DiDRR in all disaster risk-reduction programs.

A non-government research group for A2D and the provincial disaster risk reduction management office (PDRRMO) called all Cebu’s disabled people’s organizations (DPO) and non-government organizations yesterday to a DiDRR network meeting to prepare for the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Originally, the celebration was on the second Wednesday of October until UN fixed the date on Oct. 13, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) website stated.

Their suggested activities for the launching of Cebu DiDRR Network are programs, press conferences, film showings, visual exhibits and performances of children with disabilities.

They are also discussing the possibility of radio guesting as a pre-launch activity.

“One of the most significant findings of a pioneering UN global study on persons with disabilities and disaster shows that 85.57 percent of respondents from 137 countries state that they have not participated in any community disaster risk reduction and management process currently in place in their own communities,” read a UNISDR 2014 study.

Cañete said the government often overlooks PWDs in planning for disaster preparedness.

“They really need to have a family preparedness plan, which is supported by a community preparedness plan,” Cañete said.

In their meeting last July 28, one of the key issues discussed was Tribunalo’s concurrence that deaf people from disaster assistance team (DDAT) can share their expertise.

The PDRRMO chief, who admitted that this was never a part of their protocol, suggested that PWDs group can teach them how to prioritize disabled persons in their search and rescue operations.

He said they can also teach the community to be PWD-friendly.

Cañete cited an incident in one of the towns during typhoon Yolanda, where a mentally impaired member of a family was left behind while the whole family evacuated to safer grounds.

Upon their return, their mentally impaired family member was still alive, saved by his iron cage that stopped a falling tree from crushing him to death.