Negros Occidental can hardly be considered a “sleepy”
province. Once in a while, the province is rocked with disasters.
It is home to Mt. Kanlaon, one of the 22 active volcanoes
in the country. Six major rivers cause flooding in at least
17 areas during typhoons. The Negros Trench is an earthquake
threat to 16 towns and cities. Sugar plantations are host
to vehicular accidents and other man-made disasters.
But the provincial government and the people are
no fatalists. Disaster management efforts were strengthened
in 1996 and further enhanced in 2001 when a comprehensive
program was introduced.
Dubbed “Amlig-Kabuhi”, Visayan for “saving
lives”, the program aims to provide quicker and more
organized response to disasters and to mobilize a sustainable
pool of trained and committed volunteers for rescue operations.
In 2001, the Provincial Disaster Management Team
(PDMT) was formed to serve as the secretariat of the Provincial
Disaster Coordinating Council. The PDMT is a multi-agency
body that manages both pre-disaster preparedness and post-disaster
response and management. It also acts as the nerve center
of 45 rescue groups with the strength of 4,570 well-trained
volunteers.
The province has also established a Public Safety
Academy, the first rescue-training center in the country.
With the disaster management system, proper equipment
and facilities in place, the response time for emergency
calls is now guaranteed at 20 minutes or less to anywhere
within the province’s 7,900 square kilometer area,
which covers 19 towns and 12 cities.
“The right of every person to live is inherent. The
provincial government, together with the private sector,
ensures that this right is respected and protected,”
says Governor Joseph Marañon.
True enough, the province has been recording lesser
number of human casualties from disasters. With the same
number of annual typhoons and flooding incidents, the number
of victims has been steadily decreasing from 58 in the year
2000, 38 in 2001, and 18 in 2002.
According to Governor Marañon, the program
was able to reduce damages to property from P150 million
in 2001 down to P75 million in 2002.
Negros Occidental’s efforts to avert and minimize
the impact of disasters have translated to substantial savings
from relief operations and rehabilitation of damages. These
savings are reverted to the general fund for development
programs such as rural electrification and street-lighting
projects.
With Amlig-Kabuhi, the 2.5 million population of
disaster-prone Negros Occidental can sleep well at night
knowing that help will always be on the way.
