CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- With the continuous threat of both natural and man-made disasters, the Pampanga Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) makes sure that barangay officials are ready to effectively and efficiently manage such eventuality.
Recently, the PDCC in joint coordination with the Pinatubo Hazard Urgent Mitigation Project (PHUMP), conducted a two-day orientation for barangay disaster coordinating councils (BDCCs) in eight flood-prone municipalities of the province.

The said orientation of BDCCs, held at the Benigno Aquino Memorial Hall at the Capitol compound, was also in close coordination with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the Pampanga Disaster Response Network (PDRN).
“We do not exactly know when disaster will strike our province, so it is a must that barangay officials are fully prepared for such occurrence,” provincial officials said.
They added that the barangay officials are the province’s frontliners on disaster risk reduction management.
The orientation, according to Filipina Sevilla of the Provincial Disaster Monitoring  Unit (PDMU) was attended by BDCC members of barangays San Jose Matulid in Mexico; San Jose in Sta. Rita; San Matias in Sto. Tomas; San Nicolas 1st in Lubao; Pandaras in the City of San Fernando; Maligaya in Floridablanca and Mabuanbuan in Sasmuan. 
These eight barangays, according to Sevilla, are among the flood-prone areas in the province, thus the PDCC deemed it necessary to have them first undergo the said orientation.
She added that the PDCC in close coordination with concerned agencies will be conducting follow through activities to reach out fully to target barangays in the province.
Roberto Manalo of OCD in Region III and one of the orientation’s resource persons said that members of the BDCCs play very important roles in the various phases of disaster management from preparedness, response, relief operations to rehabilitation.
Manalo said that BDCCs should be fully functional and must be manned with knowledgeable and working teams on communication and warning system, transportation, relief and rescue, medical, fire brigade and damage control.
The barangay officials, according to Manalo, know the situation best and as such could make the necessary recommendations to ensure the safety and well-being of the communities.
He added that the disaster operations center must also be equipped with the necessary communication facilities, basic rescue equipment, data base of response agencies and user friendly hazard map.

The disaster operations centers should be manned 24 hours a day and seven days a week by knowledgeable personnel on disaster management and reporting.
“Complete, accurate, concise and easy to understand reports should be promptly relayed and submitted to proper authorities for proper and immediate action.”
Manalo also stressed the importance of contingency planning among BDCCs as it would mobilize effective actions and resources for emergency response and generate commitment among parties involved to act in a
coordinated manner.
“We need to have timely, effective and responsive plans for disasters as we cannot avoid them but we can mitigate them,” he added.
Aside from the presentation of the BDCC organizational structure and contingency planning, Manalo also discussed the Philippine disaster management system among the participants.
Other topics discussed during the said orientation were hydrometeorological hazards, basic concepts and term definitions of hazards, risk and vulnerability and overview of the new disaster risk reduction law.
Daisy Morales of PHUMPP, Hilton Hernando of Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical and Scientific Administration (PAGASA) and Esteban Masagca of PDRN provided needed inputs to the said BDCC orientation.