The national government is committed to promoting resiliency among Filipinos, particularly in times of emergencies and disasters.

In Region 12, the Department of Social Welfare and Development partners with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) to enhance the social protection systems and disaster management approaches in the region.

To realize this, the B-SPARED program, known as Building on Social Protection for Anticipatory Action and Response in Emergencies and Disasters was recently launched in the municipality of Midsayap, Cotabato.

B-SPARED is a provision of ex-ante interventions prior to the onset of the disaster to mitigate the risks and shocks and prevent the beneficiaries from sliding in and out of the poverty line.

Further, it supports the Adaptive and Shock-Responsive Social Protection System, which aims to help build the resilience of households, with special attention to the poor and the vulnerable.

Ruth Honculada-Georget, social policy and program coordinator and project team leader of the UNFAO, said the main objective of the B-SPARED is to promote resiliency among the poor and vulnerable households against the impact of disasters and emergencies.

“Specifically, it aims to ensure that target communities are able to secure basic needs prior to the onset of severe disasters, protect the livelihoods of the poor and the vulnerable, and enable them to actively participate in the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of their local disaster action plan,” Georget said, adding that a total of P15 million was allotted for the pilot implementation,” Georget said adding that a total of P15 million was allotted for the pilot implementation.

In SOCCSKSARGEN Region, pilot areas for the implementation of the program are the flood-prone barangays of Lomopog, Macasandeg, Nes, Rangaban, and Palongoguen, all in the municipality of Midsayap, Cotabato.

Fatima Gumaga, a resident of Barangay Rangaban, expressed gratitude to the DSWD and the UN-FAO for choosing their barangay as one of the pilot sites.

“We are heavily affected every time there is a flood in our area. Our farms are affected, and our children cannot go to school,” she stated.

The target families under the beneficiary barangays are those included in Listahanan 3 of the DSWD.

For the first phase of the implementation, anticipatory activities will include the issuance of multi-purpose cash, the prepositioning of food packs, and the protection of livelihoods and productive assets. On the other hand, the second phase of implementation will be the early harvesting and protection of agricultural products.

Meanwhile, Michael Cristopher Mathay, director of DSWD's Disaster Response Management Bureau, urged the public to be one with the government in its efforts for disaster mitigation, risk reduction, and management.

“Let us continue to work together towards the implementation of people-centered, culture- and gender-sensitive disaster mitigation, risk reduction, and management measures that would help build safer and more adaptively resilient Filipino families and communities,” he said.