Senator Loren Legarda today said early warning and early action should be at the center of disaster preparedness efforts in order to build resilient communities.
Legarda renewed her call for improved disaster risk reduction efforts as the nation observes the National Disaster Consciousness Month.
“Disaster prevention starts long before a typhoon makes landfall, before an earthquake happens or before a volcano erupts. Early warning and early action should be at the very heart of our efforts. Everyone should understand the risks we face and equip ourselves with preventive measures to lessen the impact of disasters,” she said.
Legarda said that research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that nations are likely to experience more typhoons that are stronger in the next century as a result of the warming climate.
The research showed that increasing greenhouse gas emissions could result to a 10 to 40 percent increase in the frequency of tropical cyclones by the year 2100. These typhoons could be 45 percent more intense.
“Presented with such facts, the logical step would be to put in place proactive measures to reduce our risk to disasters. We cannot be complacent and wait for another strong typhoon to occur before we to start doing what we ought to have done many years ago. The policy framework is in place. What we need is to make the laws work at the community level,” Legarda said.
Soon, the Senator will launch the instructional video on disaster preparedness, “Ligtas”, which will present basic information and measures to ensure preparedness when natural hazards such as typhoons, landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis occur.
“We must be ready to face all kinds of natural hazards and build our resilience to disasters today, as well as our resilience to climate change in the future, for a much safer environment,” Legarda concluded.
