PH using 'anticipatory action' concept to mitigate effects of disasters

The Philippines is using "anticipatory action" as part of its efforts in mitigating the effects of disasters, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) administrator Undersecretary Harold Cabreros said Tuesday.

“Recently, we introduced our concept of anticipatory action. That's one of our thrusts in coming up with our predictive actions in all the risks we are confronting. So, as mentioned also by our President (Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.), we've already gone through the reactive mode to proactive, and now we are going through (the) predictive mode. So, this is in consonance with our anticipatory action," he said during the press briefing for the ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Disaster Resilience (AMCDR) held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

The Philippines earlier enacted Republic Act 12287, also known as Declaration of the State of Imminent Disaster Act, that empowers local governments to do anticipatory action before disaster strike.

The AMCDR, set from Sept. 15 to 16 in Manila, is a flagship event in the Philippines' 2026 ASEAN chairship and designed to address one of the region's most persistent and costly challenges: its exposure to disaster.

Cabreros said the Philippines' inclusion to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) will allow the country to toughen up its critical and sensitive facilities.

"We have to strengthen it, particularly those rendering basic services, like our hospitals, our schools, and so on. And that also includes complying to our National Building Code," he said. "We have to strengthen and make our buildings more resilient.”

The OCD chief said the country needs to beef up its disaster resilience not only to reduce casualties, losses or damages but also to see to it that people’s daily lives will have continuity.

"So, we have to learn to adapt to it, and, of course, to also learn to prevent the occurrence of these hazards," he added.

-Philippine News Agency