PALO, Leyte -- The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) VIII is pushing local government units (LGUs) to make use of the Disaster Rehabilitation and Recovery Planning Guide and the Ready to Rebuild: Disaster Rehabilitation and Recovery Planning Guidebook. 

During the 22 July 2022 Kapihan sa PIA, OIC-Assistant Regional Director Atty. Jam M. Colas said NEDA VIII continues to work with other agencies at the forefront of the rehabilitation and recovery efforts in Eastern Visayas. 

“I want to flex the latest rehab and recovery plan that NEDA helped formulate. We call this Barog, which means to stand up. Kasi as Vice-Chair of [the] Rehab[ilitation] and Recovery [Committee], the role of NEDA is to help yung mga disaster-stricken areas to stand up and rise again - to build back better. I am happy to inform you that as of June 29 this year, the PPAs (programs, projects, and activities) listed in Barog, which were identified to help the areas affected to rise again, has been approved by the NDRRMC already. It means that we are nearer to getting these projects funded,” Colas said. 

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) approved on 29 June 2022 the rehabilitation and recovery programs for Typhoon Odette, of which, Eastern Visayas is requesting P14.9 billion worth of PPAs for 2022-2024. 

Typhoon Odette devastated Southern Leyte and the lower portion of Leyte. With two provinces affected, the regional DRRMC took the lead in post-disaster needs assessment and the formulation of the rehabilitation and recovery plan. 

As provided for in RA 10121, otherwise known as the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, the RDRRMC leads when there are two or more provinces affected by a disaster. 

In cases where only one province is affected, the provincial local government takes the lead in assessment and rehabilitation. Thus, to properly guide disaster-affected areas/LGUs, the NEDA prepared the Disaster Rehabilitation and Recovery Planning Guide to provide national agencies and LGUs a comprehensive guide in planning and expediting processes for post-disaster rehabilitation and recovery using a systematic approach. The guide was adopted by the NDRRMC through NRRRMC Resolution No. 1, dated 20 March 2019 and provides the overall framework for the national, regional, and local DRRMCs in the formulation of their respective post-disaster RRPs and the implementation of pre-disaster activities. 

To further capacitate LGUs in preparing for and recovering from the impacts of disasters, the NDRRMC in partnership with the World Bank, Government of Japan, and the Global Facility for DRR (GFDRR), prepared the Ready to Rebuild: Disaster rehabilitation and Recovery Planning Guidebook. This served as the operationalization of the Disaster Rehabilitation and Recovery Planning Guide at the local level. Said Guidebook provides templates and worksheets to guide and help prepare our national and local government to recover better and faster from future disasters. It comes with a Training Manual to enhance the capacity of national and local governments and stakeholders on the Disaster Rehabilitation and Recovery Phase. (MVGE/Photo via PIA VIII FB stream)