1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The primary purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the level of preparedness of the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee (BDRRMC) of Barangay No. 649, Zone 68, Manila, in order to address the gap between the concerned barangay’s disaster risk reduction and management projects and activities and the present strength and direction of the preparedness of the BDRRMC. This study aims to categorize the measurement of community disaster preparedness efficiency in terms of the so-called 4 C’s, namely: Community Risk Assessment, Contingency Planning, Communication System and Capacity-Building. It also intends to find out if there is any significant relation between the profile and the level of preparedness of the concerned BDRRMC members. With all these in mind, the researchers have agreed that by staying true to the course of this study they shall be able to achieve their desired objectives as well as produce their intended outputs: a valid and useful evaluation tool for disaster preparedness of any Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee and a program of action to make them well-prepared in responding to disasters. 2 What are these so-called 4 C’s being harped on by the researchers of this study? The 4 C’s actually represent the priority areas of concern for disaster preparedness which will help the researchers formulate the general statement of the problem as well as rationalize the corresponding findings, conclusions and recommendations of this thesis. It will also help them define the scope and delimitations of this study. The first C, Community Risk Assessment. The community must concern itself with a proper assessment of the three (3) components of disaster risk, namely: hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities. Second is Contingency Planning. In (h), Section 1, RULE 2 of the IRR of R.A. No. 10121, it is considered as a management process that analyzes specific potential events or emerging situations that might threaten society or the environment and establishes arrangements in advance to enable timely, effective and appropriate responses to such events and situations. 3 Communication System is the third C. Communication system may include all the factors involved in contingency planning, too, such as, but not limited to, early warning systems, the development of arrangements for coordination, evacuation and public information. To illustrate: implementation of a disaster preparedness program is done through the cooperation and collaboration of efforts by various sectors. Each sector shares its resource and expertise in the conduct of disaster management activities in the community. Even the private enterprises (e.g. Chinese Fire Brigade), non-government organizations (e.g. ABS-CBN Foundation Inc., a giant media network), volunteers (e.g. MMDA volunteers), and non-government organizations (Philippine Red Cross) play active and clustered roles. Finally, the fourth is Capacity-Building. The following elements of capacity as provided in (b) Section I, Rule 2, IRR of R.A. No. 10121 and could be developed for disaster preparedness may include, but not limited to, infrastructure and physical means, institutions, societal coping abilities, as well as human knowledge, skills, tools, systems, processes, appropriate technologies and collective attributes, such as social relationships, leadership and management. 4 This study, therefore, serves as a challenge to institutionalize the implementation of disaster preparedness – as carried out within the context of disaster risk reduction and management – of Barangay 649, Manila. The researchers feel this can be accomplished through a proper evaluation of the BDRRMC priority projects and activities as well as by assisting in the development of a program of action for them. This thesis seeks to understand the concepts and principles which relate to and describe the aforementioned level of preparedness of the BDRRMC in terms of community risk assessment, contingency planning, communication system and capacity- building. This research shall rely on the general theory of the disaster management cycle. This study shall also involve theories concerning Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (self-preservation as primary motivation), team building and creating effective work systems, the positive reinforcement of the conduct of disaster preparedness trainings and drills (B.F. Skinner’s Operant Theory), management concepts related to contingency planning and communication as well as leadership (Leadership Theories). One unique dimension of this study the researchers want to add is the variable risk assessment and the attempt to classify it as either a motivator or hygienic factor in Herzberg’s Two- Factory Theory of Motivation. This is very important since it is the assumption of this study that Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Best Practices may be 5 promptly gauged according to the soundness of their disaster risk assessment. Finally, based on the findings of the study, the researchers shall propose action/s on the part of the government and/or on the part of the researchers which would result to a more effective and efficient implementation of R.A. No. 10121 in Barangay No. 649 in terms of preparedness. It is important to note that, since its implementation on 2010 up to the present, the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan of Barangay No. 649 shall cover the three-year period 2013-2016. Thus, the development of a preparedness-related program of action clearly underlines the need for a comprehensive, holistic and well-developed barangay disaster readiness plan. Meanwhile, the gist of this thesis shall remain true to the basic laws of human nature and of man himself; such as, but not limited to, man’s basic law of self- preservation, or survival, which is: there is strength in numbers. If the readers would closely follow the line of thinking, this would be a common sense-based approach in dealing with this study. After all, every disaster that comes and goes is as unique as any person’s own individual differences. Thus, in disaster preparedness, it may be quite proper to apply a wise man’s idiom about the art of war, “Know your enemy.” 6 Ironically, when faced with the most horrendous calamities and back-breaking disasters, man’s greatest enemy is not nature. Ultimately, it is himself. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY The cornerstone of disaster management policy in the Philippines dates back to 1978 when Presidential Decree No. 1566 was enacted, which called for the strengthening of Philippine disaster control and capability and establishing the national program on community disaster preparedness. By encouraging self-help and mutual assistance, thus, primary responsibility was placed upon LGUs, especially officials such as the Governor, City or Municipal Mayor, and the Barangay Captain. In planning and actual operations, inter-agency and multi-sectoral coordination was required to optimize utilization of resources, LGUs were directed to utilize local resources fully before support from the national government can be sought. As a signatory to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), the Philippine Government, through the then National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) has adopted the HFA five priorities for action by developing and enhancing current plans, programs, and activities on disaster risk reduction. In June 2007, NDCC initiated through 7 the Partnership for Disaster Reduction in the Southeast Asia Phase 4 Project (PDRSEA 4), the formulation of the Philippine National Strategic Plan on Community-Based Disaster Reduction Management (CBDRM) that outlined activities in establishing an effective system to promote CBDRM. The same is true with the country being a signatory to the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER). The major shift of the disaster management strategy of the country bored down to the smaller political subdivisions of the land. At the local level, a Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (LDRRMF) is appropriated amounting to not less than 5 percent of the estimated revenue from regular sources as mandated under the Local Government Code of 1991 to support disaster risk management activities such as, but not limited to, pre-disaster preparedness programs including training, purchasing life- saving rescue equipment, supplies and medicines, for post-disaster activities and for the payment of premiums on calamity insurance. In the same way as at the national level, 30 percent of the amount appropriated for the LDRRMF is allocated as Quick Response Fund (QRF). Before 2010, most of the remaining fund was used for post-disaster activities. With the enactment of the disaster risk reduction and management law, it is 8 now specified that 70 percent of the LDRRMF can be allocated for pre-disaster preparedness activities. An online news article about a disaster preparedness seminar in Manila for barangay officials published last March 8, 2013 by www.journal.com.ph and written by Itchie Cabayan began with this statement: “By next month, all barangays in Manila will be prepared to face any disaster within their jurisdiction.” Then a typhoon-induced habagat coupled with monsoon rains came down on the greater part of Luzon on the third week of August this year which practically halted all economic activities and public services in Manila, and may have resulted to a considerable damage to property, buildings and structures, as well as infrastructures. These two events and other