City of Mati, Davao Oriental — The provincial government has formally forged a strong partnership with the province’s premiere state school, the Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology (DOSCST), in its highly ambitious bid to make this Eastern Seaboard province disaster-prepared.
“We thank you (DOSCST) for your commitment and professionalism especially in making our communities disaster-prepared and resilient at all times. Indeed, this Memorandum of Agreement will continue to change the mindset of the local governments and our people in terms of disaster-preparedness, response and rehabilitation. It is my hope that we will be able to let the general public know and appreciate our disaster risk reduction initiatives. We should take advantage of scientific data like multi-hazard maps and other science-based information meant to guide us so that when calamity strikes, the people can move on their own. The provincial government is implementing long-term disaster preparedness because it is our duty to uphold the people’s constitutional right to life and property by minimizing, if not eradicating, the root causes of vulnerabilities to disasters, strengthening our capacity and building the resilience of local communities to disasters including climate change impacts and human-induced disasters. May you inspire even more our people to promote disaster resilience at all levels to avert the loss of lives and assets, and to improve our performance in uplifting the lives of our people by ensuring resilient and prosperous communities,” says Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang during a signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the provincial government and the DOSCST.
Under the agreement, the two parties have agreed to collaborate on the creation of the project called “Institute for Environmental Systems” for the purpose to install localized weather stations in ten municipalities and one city in the province. The eleven weather stations will be making a daily weather forecast in a bid to reduce the risk of natural calamity.
The two parties have also agreed to conduct further researches on water resources for agriculture, risk reduction mitigation, local climate change, biodiversity and energy. Moreover, the two parties have also agreed on the crafting of the Local Climate Change Action Plan and the implementation of the Community Early Warning System and resiliency training among landslide-prone villages in the province. It says it will reduce disaster caused by rain-induced landslide.
The provincial government will provide P2.5 million for the project to reduce disaster caused by rain-induced landslide, and training for communities and non-experts. Another P1.7 million will be earmarked for the research entitled “Rainfall Threshold for Possible Landslide Events.” The provincial government will also provide P3 million for the purchase and installation of eleven weather stations. It will also provide one million pesos for the one-year initial operational cost for the establishment of the server of the weather stations at the Command Center of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. Governor Dayanghirang says the provincial government has recognized the great contribution of the DOSCST in the conservation and management of the environment and natural resources.
However, the DOSCST will provide one million pesos for the Community Early Warning System and resiliency training on landslide-prone villages in the province. It will also provide another one million pesos as counterpart for the establishment of the server of the weather stations at its main campus in the City of Mati. The college will consolidate all the city and municipal Local Climate Change Action Plan, and assist in the formulation, updating, monitoring and evaluation of the plan. The college will also provide manpower and technical support through the conduct of researches, seminars, trainings, monitoring or activities relative to disaster mitigation, environmental protection and conservation. The college will also develop information and social education campaign materials for target communities.
“Over the past 29 years, this college has been at the forefront of forming our young people into stewards of hope. And these young people have taken to heart one of the foundational elements of this college’s education: competence. It is no surprise, therefore, that this college’s alumni are expected to lead with integrity, to act justly in service of community, and to pursue excellence in every endeavor. It is through their great work that the true spirit of this college is profoundly manifested,” says Governor Dayanghirang during DOSCST’s 29th founding anniversary celebration.Photos by Eden Jhan Licayan
