Preparing for La Niña Year and the Big One
Last March 29, CNDR conducted an event titled “Preparing for La Niña Year and the Big One: A Forum on Understanding Natural Hazards and the Government’s Disaster Preparedness Initiatives” held at SGV Caseroom in Asian Institute of Management.
A total of 134 representatives from 64 companies attended the said forum.
Registration of participants
CNDR President Ramon Isberto gave the opening remarks.
In the said forum, four government agencies were invited to talk about natural hazards and the capacities of each agency for disaster preparedness.
Dr. Susan Espinueva, Officer-in-Charge of the Hydro-meteorological Division of PAGASA talked about the hydro-meteorological hazards and the capacities of weather bureau.
Also from PAGASA, Ms. Daisy Ortega, Senior Weather Specialist of Climatology and Agrometeorology Division tackled climatological hazards and their impacts. Her discussion is focused on climate variations and the climate outlook for April to July this year. Her discussion dwelt mostly on the ENSO Phenomenon, otherwise known as the El Niño and La Niña – on how these two phenomena occur. According to her, our country has already passed its La Niña peak but we still expect a wet summer.
Dr. Sevillo David, Jr., OIC Lands, Geological Survey Division of Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), discussed the floods, landslides and coastal hazards, and the capacities of the bureau. He said that the geologic location of the country makes it more vulnerable to various hazards.
DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development Graciano Yumul gave the keynote speech about impacts of natural disasters and the preparedness of the Philippines.
Dr. Daisy Ortega (center), together with Dr. David (left) and USec. Yumul (right), answering questions from the audience regarding ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) Phenomena.
Lastly, Dir. Renato Solidum, Jr. of Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) started his discussion with citing that when you prepare for an earthquake, you use a case-to-case scenario for what is strong for one city might be stronger for the other city. He started his presentation with the review of recent earthquakes around the world, particularly with 2008 China quake. He also discussed the multiple hazards associated with earthquake like fire and tsunami, and also brought up the preparedness of Philippines, particularly with the Pandacan Oil Depot.
Dir. Solidum also discussed the services being offered by Phivolcs.
In this photo, Dir. Solidum answered some question pertaining to public's faster access to information.