The Department of Agriculture’s Regional Field Office 3 held a two-day disaster risk reduction and management training workshop on May 26-27 at the Savannah Resort Hotel in Angeles City.

The activity was attended by Regional Technical Director of Operations and Extension, Dr. Eduardo L. Lapuz Jr., Field Operations Division Chief, Elma S. Mananes, Focal Person for Reduction and Disaster Risk Management (DRRM), Eduviges T. Pelayo, and DRRM Alternate Focal Point. Individual Lowell D. Rebillaco, Banner Program Coordinators, Provincial Agriculture Office Representatives, Agricultural Program Coordinating Officers.

Dr. Eduardo L. Lapuz Jr. said the activity is timely since the rainy season has already started, typhoons that cause flooding will be rampant and will surely cause damage to crops and livestock.

“The purpose of this two-day training workshop is to take stock and have a reorientation on how to do the damage assessment and report, at the same time, on how we are going to make certain requests funding calculation for our rapid response fund to help or assist our farmers affected by certain disasters,” Lapuz said.

He added that the activity will be productive and will help everyone on the proper and reliable way to report, assess the damage and calculate the value of the losses on which farmers and fishers, including pastoralists, suffer during disasters they can use for their plans. to get a better result.

Elma S. Mananes, Head of Field Operations Division, expressed her gratitude to all participants as all Central Luzon provinces are well represented.

Having the same reflection with Dr. Lapuz, she emphasizes the importance of participating in said activity and hopes that everyone will take advantage of it to acquire more knowledge on how to properly report damage to their respective provinces.

“So nakasalalay ang reporting system or yung mga reported damage kapag mayroong calamity na dumarating sa ating rehiyon, and as we all know based on reports nagka-come up ang national government or Department of Agriculture kung paano natin matutulungan ang ating mga magsasaka,” Mananes pointed out.

She said that each participant plays a vital role through this reporting system, from municipal to provincial and regional to national level, as it is the basis for proposals and strategies on how to deal with those affected by the calamities.

From the perspective of DRMM Eduviges T. Pelayo Focal Person “We are here, again, not to bore you, but we know that these days we need to have real-time and really reliable reporting” , explained Pelayo.

It also encourages each of the participants to be proactive in reporting damage and to work together not only in reporting, but even on the field activities they conduct through technology since their goal is to reduce risk, especially on agricultural production.

The training workshop focuses on the presentation of the damage assessment and reporting system, the reiteration of DRR reports, the damage matrix, the DRR notification schedule and the workshop on production cost for all products.