By:Emmanuel D. Taghoy
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Office of Civil
Defense (OCD)-9 recently held a training on disaster risk reduction and
management to some persons with disabilities (PWDs) coming from the different parts
of the region.
Among the topics discussed were preparedness
during an earthquake, tsunami, fire and typhoon by OCD’s training specialist
Ferdinand Bernal.
Some 48 PWDs participated in the training,
which is a part of the capacity building services and information, education
and communication campaign of the OCD.
Bernal said it is essential that differently-abled
persons would know how to react in case a disaster would hit their place.
“For a start, we need to have a disaster plan
to know what to do when a disaster occurs,” he said.
He even cited how typhoon Yolanda, one of the
strongest typhoons ever recorded in the history of the Philippines, had ravaged
the province of Leyte.
“Most people were not prepared and were not
fully educated how to react when Yolanda struck which is why it had caused so
much death,” he said.
It can be recalled that typhoon Yolanda or “Haiyan,”
its international name, caused great damage in Southern Philippines leaving several
deaths on its wake and thousands of people homeless.
Bernal
said “out of this training, we can presume that you would be knowledgeable on
disaster and what measures to undertake to be safe or to be protected.”
