Together We Stand

[ 27 ] The private sector as a key actor in disaster management Rene ‘Butch’ Meily, President, Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation O n a Saturday morning in Manila in 2009, it rained. And rained. And rained. With no Doppler radars, there was no way to determine the intensity of the rain brought on by a typhoon. After many hours of thunderous water pouring from the sky, much of Metro Manila was flooded. Highways turned into rivers and many motorists were trapped in their cars and killed. Businesses, homes and lives were destroyed. That tragedy gave birth to the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF), a public-private sector partnership focused on disaster management and made up of some of the country’s largest businesses. It serves as a neutral setting where even the fiercest commercial competitors can come together and channel their resources for a common cause. Working closely with the Government, PDRF mobilized the Philippine private sector to rebuild classrooms and initiate the process that eventually led to a flood hazard map for Manila. Today, the Philippines has 12 Doppler radars. One of PDRF’s founding members, Philippine Long Distance Telephone, laid fibre-optic cable enabling two impor- tant government agencies — the Office of Civil Defense and Pagasa, the government weather bureau — to communicate with one another for the first time via the Internet. PDRF’s most lasting project has been the reforestation of the Marikina watershed in the hills above Manila. A major cause of the flooding was the increasing loss of forest cover in the watershed area, covering thousands of hectares. The growing migration of rural folk to Manila was putting enormous pres- sure on the region. Inhabitants were chopping down trees to make charcoal in order to eke out a meagre existence. PDRF led a coalition of non-governmental organizations and private firms headed by another of its member companies, Manila Water, to teach people the importance of protecting the environment and to establish alternative ways to make a living such as nurseries and making products like honey, lotion and herbal drinks. It hired upland residents to guard the watershed against intrusions. The battle between urban development and saving the protected area continues with PDRF embarking on new strategies to save Marikina watershed. In 2013, the Philippines suffered its ‘annus horribilis’. In September, the city of Zamboanga located on the southern island of Mindanao was racked by three weeks of fight- ing due to a raid by rebels. In October, a 7.2 magnitude Ivisan National High School, Capiz: students in front of a new classroom built by PDRF Entrepreneurs whose businesses were devastated by super-typhoon Haiyan were given new equipment by PDRF and training by the government Image: PDRF Image: PDRF T ogether W e S tand