Photo by Hamdan Badrudin/BIO
COTABATO CITY—An assessment to enhance the continued implementation of the early recovery program of the Bangsamoro Government for the victims of severe tropical storm (STS) Paeng was undertaken here on Thursday, Feb. 9.
The Bangsamoro Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (BDRRMC) together with the Mindanao Humanitarian Team led the “After-Action Review for STS Paeng” on Thursday to discuss the ongoing updates on post-disaster recovery and improvements four months since the STS Paeng wreaked havoc on some villages in Maguindanao provinces.
“We want to look back at what happened, we want to see the best practices so that they can be inputted into the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council plan to enhance the recovery plan,” Minister of Social Services and Development (MSSD) Atty. Raisa Jajurie said.
“The other ministries and agencies that had a budget as early as last year continued based on their budget appropriation of 2022, or even other years where the funding are still valid. Meaning, the funds were used based on the activities in the recovery plan, but we still asked the parliament for a budget for an early recovery plan starting in 2023,” Jajurie added.
The Minister stressed that the regional government is continuously responding not only to the victims’ immediate needs but towards early recovery to rise again and take off from the disaster they came from.
Meanwhile, BARMM Rapid Emergency Action and Disaster Incidence (READI) head Minister Atty. Naguib Sinarimbo said that the Bangsamoro Government is taking the lesson from the weaknesses demonstrated during its response to Paeng but has also recognized the strengths displayed.
“During STS Paeng, the Bangsamoro Government took the lead in terms of the response from the very early stages of Paeng. We’ve been very grateful to a lot of partner institutions in particular the Mindanao Humanitarian Team for supporting the regional government in this difficult task,” said Sinarimbo.
“The earthquake that hit Turkiye and Syria taught us very important lessons that we need to be prepared for. We should be able to further strengthen our capacity to respond to all sorts of disasters, so there’s no predicting what would happen, the best defense [really] is to prepare at all times,” he emphasized.
Other officials and representatives from different ministries and partner International Non-Government Organizations (INGOs) such as Ministries of Health (MOH), education (MBHTE) United Nations (UN), and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), among others were also present at the assessment activity. (Majid Nur/BIO)
