What COA Found

Republic Act No. 10121 or the PDRRM Act requires Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (LDRRMCs) of LGUs to: (1) integrate disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into local development plans, programs and budgets and (2) approve, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the LDRRM Plans and regularly review and test the plan consistent with other national and local planning programs. In order to operationalize the same, not less than five percent (5%) of the estimated revenue of each LGUs from its respective regular sources shall be set aside as the LDRRM Fund to support disaster risk management activities such as, but not limited to, pre-disaster preparedness programs including training, purchasing life-saving rescue equipment, supplies and medicines, for post-disaster activities, and for the payment of premiums on calamity insurance.

Quezon City and Malabon City have integrated disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into its respective local development plans, programs and budgets. Both cities formulated medium term Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plans. Quezon City’s Plan covers the period from 2014-2020 while Malabon City’s Plan covers 2014-2024. Both plans aimed at establishing and strengthening the capacities of communities to help them anticipate, cope, and recover from the negative impacts of emergency occurrences and disasters, consistent with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan. However, both LGUs committed lapses in monitoring which contributed to the low implementation rate of planned projects and activities related to Disaster Risk Preparedness.

As to funding, Quezon City raised enough revenues to meet the fund requirement of the LDRRM Fund. It has generated a total amount of ₱536,227,129 for its CY 2016 LDRRM Fund. With the total unexpended amount of ₱1,088,209,998 coming from the 2011-2015 LDRRM Fund, Quezon City has a total fund allocation of ₱1,624,437,127 for disaster risk reduction activities. On the other hand, Malabon City was not able to meet the LDRRM Fund requirement for CYs 2012, 2013, and 2014 due to inaccurate reconciliation of unutilized LDRRM Fund under the City’s General Fund. It only generated ₱41,283,703 for its 2016 LDRMM Fund. With the unexpended amount of ₱84,598,244 in the 2011-2015 LDRRM Fund, Malabon City has a total fund allocation of ₱125,881,947 for disaster risk reduction activities.

Accomplishment reports of Quezon City and Malabon City revealed that each city was only able to accomplish 25% of their respective Disaster Risk Preparedness Program’s Projects and Activities for CY 2016.

This is attributable to the following reasons: (1) failure to regularly monitor and evaluate the implementation of the program, activities, and projects related to Disaster Preparedness; (2) non-use of the performance indicators prescribed by the NDRRM Plan, which are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound; (3) absence of mandatory members in DRRM Council; (4) prolonged procurement process; and (5) unreconciled records of equipment and emergency supplies.

Why COA did this study

The Philippines stands as one of the most disaster prone areas in the world. According to the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) data, over the last decade, the Philippines had a record of 565 disaster events with 69,724 fatalities and roughly USD 23.0 billion in damages. These disaster events affected around 186 million people from calendar years 1900 to 2014. According to the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRM) Act of 2010 and the Local Government Code of 1991, Local Government Units (LGUs) are expected to be at the frontlines in the aftermath of disaster events to provide immediate relief and assistance to those in need. Hence, the ability of the LGUs to respond to disasters plays a crucial role in the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Framework of the National Government.

To assess whether disaster risk preparedness programs of LGUs in the National Capital Region (NCR) for CY 2016 are already in place and implemented, and the goals and objectives of the program are achieved, two cities were selected as case studies: Quezon City and Malabon City. This report focused on: (1) the goals and objectives of the Disaster Risk Preparedness Program of the two LGUs; (2) the extent these LGUs met the funding requirements of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (LDRRM) Fund; and (3) the extent the LGUs achieved the programs’ goals and objectives for CY 2016.

COA reviewed relevant laws, rules and regulations to determine the program’s goals, objectives and key performance indicators. It also looked into the CY 2016 data from the LGUs to assess the extent the program achieved its goals and objectives, including the requirement for the LDRRM Fund. Lastly, COA interviewed LGU officials and performed ocular inspections of the projects implemented.

What COA recommends

We recommend that LGUs perform regular monitoring of the implementation of the projects and activities related to Disaster Preparedness Program. And in doing so, each LGU must at the minimum adopt the indicators provided in the NDRRM Plan. Should any LGU prefer to adopt more, these indicators should be specific and measurable.