The Department of Information and Communications Technology and the United Nations Development Programme held a ceremonial handover activity of disaster response communications equipment on 26 January at the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Science Amphitheater.
Under the Immediate Response, Recovery, and Resilience Initiatives in typhoon “Odette”-Affected Areas project of UNDP, the transfer aims to ensure the assets’ continued use for DICT’s disaster and emergency response and strengthen the agency’s coordination and communications capacity.
UNDP Philippines resident representative Dr. Selva Ramachandran, DICT Undersecretary Manuel Anthony S. Tan, and Assistant Secretary Wilroy V. Ticzon signed the Deed of Transfer of all disaster response equipment and assets to DICT. The four remaining emergency response vehicles were also handed over to the government agency, to be used in addressing the needs of affected areas in the aftermath of typhoon “Odette” where coordination and communication lines had been disrupted.
“The Philippines is vulnerable to the effects of climate change and natural disasters. How do we lessen the burden on our people? The government is proactively working hand-in-hand to provide better disaster preparedness, speedy emergency response, and faster recovery time,” Tan said.
Ramachandran stressed in his message that UNDP is committed to assisting national and local governments in building resilient communities and strengthening their capacity to address climate-related natural hazards.
“I certainly would like to commend the proactive stand that DICT took to play an important role during typhoon “Odette,” and we hope that this joint endeavor will help in coping with future disasters,” he said.
Ticzon reaffirmed the DICT’s commitment to improving access to emergency response. “The DICT has a collaborative engagement with UNDP in carrying out disaster response and recovery work toward community resilience, with a goal to improve equal access to sustainable basic service through the provision of various emergency response equipment. These equipment will enable us to seek recovery and plan the restoration of bypass services and infrastructure and other measures for resilience-building,” he said.
In 2022, UNDP delivered the first set of assets and equipment to DICT, including six pick-up trucks, 20 units of mobile radio communication systems, 40 units of very small aperture terminals, 50 units of generator sets, 30 units of rugged tablets, 40 units of satellite phones, and one base transceiver station.
In coordination with DICT’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management Division, the equipment has been distributed among the Department’s regional and provincial offices, and the six severely affected local government units, to provide rapid response in terms of emergency telecommunications.