PROGRAM BRIEFER Enhancing LGU Capacity on Disaster Risks ...

Republic of the Philippines

Department of the Interior and Local Government

PROGRAM BRIEFER | Enhancing LGU Capacity on Disaster Risks Reduction
and Management and Climate Change Adaptation

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) takes an active role in Climate
Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM). This is our
mandate per RA 9729 (Climate Change Act) and RA 10121 (DRRM Act) to provide for capacity
development programs for CCA and disaster preparedness. Our efforts lean towards enhancing
the capacity of Local Government Units (LGUs) to be at the forefront of the government’s
initiative to adapt, mitigate and prepare for climate change and disasters.
The Department has a three-component framework to achieve CCA and DRRM compliant LGUs
leading to more resilient and safe communities. The cycle framework includes assessment,
capacity enhancement and enabling access to financing to achieve adaptive and disaster
resilient LGUs.

Figure 1. DILG CCA-DRRM Intervention Framework

The component on assessment tells us whether or not our LGUs are institutionally prepared,
what are gaps into becoming resilient. Meanwhile, capacity enhancement aims to share
knowledge, promote tools and methodologies in mainstreaming to CLUPs and CDPs, and
develop capabilities of LGUs and communities to be safe and resilient. Finally, the component
on enabling access to financing shall provide avenues for resource generation and project
development for the various CCA-DRRM initiatives to materialize.
The DILG has refocused its targets from the 27 vulnerable provinces to the contiguous local
government units (LGUs) in the periphery of the 18 major river basins (MRB) in the country
consisting of 47 Provinces. We invite convergence to focus efforts on the targets so we can
have harmonized efforts and ladderized initiatives for more effective results.

1|DRRM-CCA Program Briefer

The 18 MRBs per the River Basin Control Office (RBCO) of the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) are:

1. Cagayan River Basin 10. Tagum River Basin
2. Mindanao River Basin 11. Ilog-Hilabangan
3. Agusan River Basin 12. Panay River Basin
4. Pampanga River Basin 13. Tagoloan River Basin
5. Agno River Basin 14. Agus River Basins
6. Abra River Basin 15. Davao River Basin
7. Pasig-Laguna de Bay 16. Cagayan de Oro River Basin
8. Bicol River Basin 17. Jalaur River Basin
9. Abulug River Basin 18. Buayan-Malungun

The five (5) point strategy of the Department to achieve disaster resilient and climate adaptive
LGUs are:

1. Strengthening of Institutional Capacity for Disaster Preparedness
2. Integration of Disaster Risk Management in Local Government Systems and Processes
3. Enhancing Compliance and Enforcement Systems to Policies impacting on Disaster Risk

Management
4. Facilitating Access to Financing
5. Institutionalize Information, Education and Communication Systems

The activities of the DILG for the LGUs in the 18 major river basins are as follows:

Figure 2. DILG DRRM-CCA Activities

2|DRRM-CCA Program Briefer

Our goal is to strengthen the capacities of LGUs to:
1. Reduce risks of disaster and mitigate adverse impacts of disasters
2. Increase resiliency of communities to reduce risk
3. Manage the consequences of disasters and the phenomenon associate with climate
change

And to achieve the goal, the Department shall strive to be giving the total DRRM-CCA LGU
package comprising of:

1. Diagnostics to [scientifically] assess their risk
2. Planning guidance in mainstreaming DRRM and CCA in their local plans
3. Equipage support
4. Enhancing community-preparedness
With this package and the strategies, we shall hope to strengthen LGUs to: 1) increase
community resiliency, 2) reduce risk, 3) manage consequences of disasters and climate change
and 4) have 0 or no casualties.

3|DRRM-CCA Program Briefer