ARE LOCAL government units (LGUs) prepared for the looming El Niño phenomenon? The long dry spell will surely hit water supply. Water scarcity will result to poor agricultural production, which in turn means scarce food supply which could increase the prices of food and therefore cause widespread hunger. Staggering domino effect.
It is high time for the national government and LGUs to prioritize more proactive and preventive measures to ensure the resilience of vulnerable groups and economic sectors to the risks brought by disasters and climate change.
LGUs must abandon their reactive approach to managing disasters, which means responding only after a disaster has occurred and merely repairing or rebuilding what had been damaged. We must invest more in disaster prevention, risk reduction, and mitigation. In poorer LGUs, there is a strong reactive post-disaster relief and rescue operation focus and not much on prevention and risk reduction.
According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, LGUs’ insufficient resources and political structures prevent them from investing in the right planning tools to be more prepared and truly resilient during disruptive events. There is not enough investments in planning tools. They do not even have enough permanent personnel to manage GIS [geographic information system] mapping functions. LGUs are at the forefront in their territories. Sadly, many of them do not have adequate personnel and equipment, making it very difficult to perform their functions.
While policies are in place at the national level, various challenges impede their implementation at the LGU level. The provincial and regional governments have a responsibility to coordinate and synchronize local development plans. Policies at the national level are important, but they do not effectively trickle down to the LGU level. Another challenge is intergovernmental collaboration.
The bottom line: Act early. Prepare before disruptive events like a long dry spell or typhoon strike. Preparation is half the battle won.
