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Cagayan de Oro City - The conduct of symposium/forum on Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) tops the list of activities that the Regional DRRM Council in region 10 will undertake in observance of the International Day for DRR and the ASEAN Day for Disaster Management (ADDM) on Oct. 13, this year.

Regional Director Carmelito A. Lupo of OCD, region 10, said the theme of the event is "My City, My Future: Making ASEAN Cities Safe from Disasters," in accordance with the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction's (UNISDR) Global Campaign for Building Resilient Cities 2010-2011.

Lupo said this agenda is also in consonance with the provisions of the newly enacted Philippine DRRM Act of 2010 under Republic Act No. 10121 which institutionalized the paradigm shift from having a reactive disaster response to a more proactive DRRM approach.

The combination of high population density, active seismic activity and extreme climate events continue to generate greater earthquake and climate risks in South East Asia, especially in disaster prone developing countries where more people continually migrate into high risk urban areas.

"Thus, the advocacy is ever-growing for everyone to pay more attention to cities and urban areas where potential damage and losses for natural disaster would be tremendous and tragic," he said.

In the Philippines, the devastating effects of typhoons, like that of "Ondoy" which occurred in September 26, last year, has raised the government's attention to focus more on urban risk reduction with major concerns on land use planning, urban development, public works, construction safety and licensing, community welfare, emergency management, and in many cases transport, sanitation, water and power delivery and community health care and education.

Through the National DRRM Council, formerly known as the National Disaster Coordination Council (NDCC), more projects and programs are now being pushed to ensure that they are really felt on the ground by the communities who are being prepared to become more resilient to disasters and ill-effects of climate change, Lupo added. (PIA 10)