Participants in the Western Visayas Summit on Disaster Risk Reduction and Multi-Hazard Awareness in Bacolod City in a joint declaration issued Saturday stated their unity, commitment and resolve to reduce the risks of disasters in their region.

More than 200 participants from local governments in Western Visayas and Negros Oriental, the business sector, civil society, the academe, and other stakeholders attended the day-long summit Saturday convened by Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III with Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia as co-convenor.

In their declaration, the participants said the vulnerability of communities and localities to disasters and calamities can be addressed with proper management of the sources of risk, level of exposure, and buildup of adaptive capacity.

They said disasters can be mitigated, if not entirely prevented, with the right measures in place at all levels, but especially community-centered initiatives, and implemented by all sectors, including equipping communities with the capability to manage disasters when they occur.

They also said they support the peace process and urge the national government and revolutionary organizations to enter into permanent peace settlements that would make widespread dislocation and displacement of large populations a thing of the past, they said.

“We agree to work together to implement at all levels the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, the Climate Change Act of 2009, the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Action Plan, and the National Climate Change Action Plan,” they said.

They also committed tocollaborate moreclosely and effectively with each other to coordinate theirefforts on capacity building for disaster risk reduction, preparedness, relief,rehabilitation, reconstruction, and resettlement, they added.

Meanwhile, Jomarie Vargas, Bacolod City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office action officer, said that during the summit they saw a common problem in Negros Occidental and Oriental and agreed that there is a need to review the geohazard mapping of the Mines and Geo Sciences Bureau since it is not updated.

He said Pimentel has directed the PHILVOLCS to conduct a thorough investigation of fault lines existing in the province. Although Bacolod is not included in the geohazard map, there is still a need for a thorough investigation by the PHILVOLCS of the whole Visayas region, he added.

Vargas said they will undergo a Rapid Earthquake Disaster Assessment System training in Bacolod City to determine where a tsunami may hit. It will be participated in by stakeholders from Negros Occidental and Oriental including his office, he said.

Rosario Cabrera, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council regional director, said Western Visayas has five earthquake generators and has 679 tsunami prone barangays where 172 are in Negros Occidental.

Vargas said if there is an earthquake in the Negros trench, Bacolod will be protected by the Panay and Guimaras Island from tsunamis. In case there will be a 7 magnitude earthquake, the worst to be hit by a tsunami are Hinobaan, Sipalay, Cauayan, Ilog and Kabankalan, he said.*CGS

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