It's Disaster
Consciousness Month

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Eight years ago, the President issued Executive Order No. 137 that declared the month of July as National Disaster Consciousness Month. As stated in the presidential order, the intention of the declaration is to enable national government agencies, local government units and civil society to work together in implementing extensive disaster awareness campaigns and in holding activities to promote it.

The Philippines, perhaps more than most other countries in the world, is one that faces calamities and disasters very regularly in every given year. We have typhoons, floods, landslides, avalanches, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, lightning strikes. That is without taking into account other problems such as seasonal ailments, like dengue fever and typhoid, and respiratory diseases.

There are other forms of disaster we experience, such as sinking of sea-going vessels, collisions in mid-sea, explosions and fires on board, and about a year ago, also the terrible incident of an oil spill in one of our nearby islands, the effects of which have still not been totally removed.

This is also without mentioning man-made calamities like fires and vehicular accidents on land that have also claimed a lot of lives, or caused injuries to many.

The government announcement of the observance of National Disaster Consciousness Month is loaded with various programs and activities, high-sounding plans involving various agencies, all supposed to develop more awareness among the people of the inevitability of disasters and calamities, and, hopefully, to enable them to know how to respond in order to save lives and properties when they occur.

This is all very well, but it will perhaps make this observation more meaningful, and more relevant if such activities are made to focus more on the lowest level of our local government units, where response from government agencies and volunteers with the proper equipment to assist, cannot be availed of as quickly as in the urban areas. This way, "consciousness" will be able to bring more results, not only for this month, but all through the years.*