UNISDR SUPPORTS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A

POLICY CENTER ON DRRM AT UMAK

As a champion of “Making Cities Resilient” Campaign of the United Nations International

Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), the City of Makati, led by Mayor and Campaign
Champion on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Hon. Jejomar Erwin Binay, Jr., recently hosted the
visit of Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative for DRR of the UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon.

Together with Fouad Bendimerad, Ph.D., P.E., Chairman of Earthquakes and Megacities
Initiative (EMI), and Brigitte Leoni, UN Communication Officer, Wahlström met last May 5 at
University of Makati (UMak) with Councilor Henry Jacome, Councilor Ma. Theresa De Lara, and
Atty. Violeta Seva, Senior Adviser of Mayor Binay, to discuss the possibility of establishing a
Makati Policy Center for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) in UMak.

They were joined by faculty from UMak College of Governance and Public Policy (CGPP),
Raymund Rosuelo, College Secretary, and Andrew Mungcal, Head of the Research and
Institutional Linkages, and UMak administration officials which included Cynthia Jose, Director
of the Corporate Communication Center, Engr. Danilo Enriquez, Head of the General Services
Office, and Elizabeth Fernandez, Director of the Occupational Safety and Health Center.

One of the proposals is to house the center at the university’s CGPP and its’ center for
good governance, the Pimentel Center for Local Governance (PCLG). CGPP and PCLG offer
certificate courses in barangay good governance, and baccalaureate and graduate programs in
local government administration, development management and governance, with students
that include the Philippine Councilors’ League, local chief executives, and barangay officials
nationwide. Any of these programs can provide the perfect arena not only to learn, but more
importantly, to share and carry out the policies and legislations on disaster management in the
city, district, down to the municipality and barangay levels.

In a meeting a few days earlier with Senator Loren Legarda, the UN Champion for DRR
and climate change adaptation (CCA), Wahsltröm “lauded the Philippines’ laws on CCA and DRR
as the best in the world”, as reported last May 4 by Philippine Daily Inquirer and Yahoo! News
(see related link: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/un-lauds-philippines-climate-change-laws-worlds-
best-055003862.html) In the same article, “Legarda thanked Wahlström for the compliment
but told media that the challenge is to translate them into local community action to save lives,
and to reduce disaster risks and economic losses.”
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 The proposed Makati Policy Center presents an opportunity to translate the legal
framework into action. During her Makati visit, Wahlström emphasized that disaster awareness
and management is “very, very critical for the Philippines because it is one of the most disaster-
prone and exposed countries in the world, with a big, growing population, fast-growing
economy. All these things tend to generate more risks . . . Awareness is needed, but above all,
the capacity to implement and apply all the excellent legislation and laws and policies that have
been put in place in response to this awareness.”

It was observed by Wahlström that Makati is characterized by two extreme sides, i.e.
the very wealthy, rich and modern side, and the very poor communities that may not be so
well-equipped to manage high risk disasters like earthquakes, floods, and fires. One such
community is Barangay Rizal, which the group had visited earlier. Barangay Rizal has
fortunately been working with the City government and technical experts to assess the
community’s disaster readiness, and to give guidelines in the event of an emergency or
evacuation.

Wahlström called on UMak students to “persist in this engagement and help to develop
the Philippines’ capacity to both mitigate and prevent future disasters to reduce risk sustainably
for the future development of the country and to save people’s lives in times of crisis . . . To see
this as part of their professional obligations is very encouraging.”

In his message to UMak students, Dr. Bendimerad of EMI said that “the people are
fortunate to be in Makati because there is some level of engagement from the authorities . . .
they’re really fortunate to be in this environment and they really should take advantage of it in
terms of pursuing a good education, preparing themselves for the future, and hopefully being
able to contribute to others.”

EMI has been doing advocacy work with the City of Makati since 1999, and one of their
most important projects is the redevelopment plan for Barangay Rizal. EMI is looking forward
to the education tie-up with UMak and the City Government and, once again, assured support
in providing resources, technical skills and know-how. (UMak OEVP-CCC)