Davao City continues to formulate PSCP

The Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) continues to conduct data-gathering and workshop programs with the various offices of the city government of Davao to formulate the city’s Public Service Continuity Plan (PSCP).

Under the guidelines set by the PSCP guidebook created by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the Office of the Civil Defense and the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, the PSCP shall serve as a contingency plan for the local government to continue its operations in the event of a wide-scale calamity.

The PSCP features an organized schematics to be enacted after the occurrence of a large-scale emergency had halted the operations of local government offices, in order to continue the delivery of services to the public.

“Naa na dira ang mga basics: risk reduction, hazard profile, risk assessment. Unsa ang mga posibleng mahitabo sa atong siyudad na dakog impact na dakog chance na maputol ang atong pag-serbisyo sa publiko (It is included there the basics: risk reduction, hazard profile, risk assessment. The possible impacts to our city in the event of an incdent where there is a big chance our services to the public will be halted),” said CDRRMO-Administration and Training Division acting head Lyndon Ancajas during the ‘At Your Service’ program aired over the Davao City Disaster Radio on Tuesday.

The PSCP contains contingencies for disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, terrorist threats, cyber-attacks, floodings, typhoons, and other large-scale incidents that can cut the delivery of public services.

Under the PSCP, each office of the local government will have identified their Mission Essential Functions (MEFs) which they must be able to put back into operation within 24 hours of being hit by a calamity– despite the damage dealt to the office and their resources.

In order for the city government to resume operations in the midst of a disaster, the PSCP will include directives in forming a skeleton communication network, augmenting personnel numbers, redirecting processes to other capable offices, identifying alternative sites of government operations, and other essential functions in emergency response.

The PSCP program started on the national level back in 2018. However, Ancajas said that a program of the same kind had been initiated by the local government in 2017, after the Davao City local government responded to the Typhoon Yolanda disaster and observed the most vital points of failure in the administrative response to the wide-scale destruction.

On April 17-20 this year, the first batch of local government offices- mainly first responders and frontliners -participated in the Public Service Continuity Planning workshop.

“Gibuhat nato ni siya na per office sa city government, although dili pa tanan kay by batch man ta kay daghan man gyud ta’g opisina. First batch nato kadto gyung mga members sa response cluster, kadto gyunng mga first responders gyud ba. Sila gyud ang unahon natog put back into operation kay sila man ang first movers (We did this for each office in the city government, although not all of them are done because we have many offices. Our first batch were really the first responders. They will be the first to put back into operation because they are the first movers),” Lyndon said.

The next batch of local government offices are scheduled to participate in another round PSCP workshop in the coming months.

Though the local government continues to enhance its capability to respond to city-wide emergencies, Ancajas said all preparations will still prove lacking without the participation of the citizenry.

“The public must also be prepared. Kay kung the local government of Davao is doing its best and then pag-abot sa communities kulang or huyang medyo dili balance. That’s why disaster preparedness is the responsibility of everyone (The public must also be prepared. Because if the local government of Davao is doing its best without the communities’ participation, it will not be enough. That’s why disaster preparedness is everyone’s responsibility),” Ancajas said.

The CDRRMO continues to gather data and insights from the various offices of the city government, and targets to propose the city’s PSCP for approval before the end of the year. CIO