DOST pushes land use plan after PH tops world risk index

Science Secretary Renato Solidum on Wednesday pushed for an integrated land use plan and better implementation of laws on disaster risk reduction after the Philippines for the third straight year registered the highest World Risk Index in a study of 193 countries.

At the presentation of the Department of Science and Technology's P28.77-billion proposed budget for 2025 before the Senate Committee on Finance, Sen. Loren Legarda asked Solidum what the government was doing to be excluded from the countries facing the highest risk.

"We’re continuously improving, especially using science and technology innovation and we have various apps... What we need to look into is the prevention and mitigation side and the preparedness to respond. It’s not simply providing relief," said Solidum.

He said that urban areas needed more dams, as rivers and drainages could no longer accommodate increased rainfall.

Land use plan

“For example, in Metro Manila, we need to have more series of dams upstream of Wawa River and improve the current drainages, but it’s not simply the control of flood but an integrated land use plan from upstream to downstream," Solidum said.

"We have been trying to have it enacted into law, and that increased population that we have has the tendency now to settle in areas that are higher and higher risk because of overpopulation and the lack of control for the settlement of people,” he added.

“No matter how we improve our warning, if people are still living in flood-prone areas, wala na tayo magagawa, (there’s nothing we can do) but for earthquake-related issues, we need to strengthen our buildings,” Solidum said.

"Our laws are good, we need more implementation as well," he added.

Told that laws, funding, and technologies are in place to address the need for risk mitigation, Solidum said, "Except the National Land Use Act."

The House of Representatives in 2023 passed its version of the measure, House Bill 8162. It seeks to provide a national framework for the development of the country's land to ensure its optimum use consistent with the principle of sustainable development.

It is a priority legislation of the Marcos administration.

The Philippines in 2024 registered a WRI of 46.91. It scored 46.82 and 46.86 in 2022 and 2023 when it also topped the risk rankings.

Source: World Risk Report 2024,  Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict of the Ruhr-University Bochum in Denmark

Risk index factors

The WRI is calculated per country in terms of exposure and vulnerability. 

"Exposure represents the extent to which populations are exposed to and burdened by the impacts of earthquakes, tsunamis, coastal and riverine floodings, cyclones, droughts, and sea level rise," the report said.

It said vulnerability is composed of three dimensions: susceptibility, coping, and adaptation.

Susceptibility refers to the structural characteristics and conditions of a society that increase the overall likelihood that populations will suffer damage from extreme natural events and enter a disaster situation.

Coping involves various capacities and actions of societies to counter the negative impacts of natural hazards and climate change through direct actions and available resources in the form of formal or informal activities and to minimize damage in the immediate aftermath of an event.

Adaptation refers to long-term processes and strategies to achieve anticipatory changes in societal structures and systems to counter, mitigate, or purposefully avoid future adverse impacts.

In 2024, the Philippines scored 58.07 in the lack of coping capabilities and 56.10 in the lack of adaptive capabilities.

Source: World Risk Report 2024,  Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict of the Ruhr-University Bochum in Denmark

DOST initiatives

Solidum said the DOST and Phivolcs have been assisting the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development in integrating hazard and risk assessment and developing an automated tool to help local government units (LGU) in developing a sustainable settlement plan.

“Hopefully, the LGUs would now [have] a better appreciation of what needs to be done, saan pwede magtayo at 'di pwede magtayo ng settlement, (where we can build and where we cannot),” he explained.

The DOST is also working with other agencies such as the Department of Education and the Office of Civil Defense.

“[You can] look at HazardHunter and you can see the hazards immediately, and we usually, through PhiVolcs, get a request to check the project sites that they have," Solidum said.

"As part of the procedure for construction, they ask relevant organizations for the assessment as well aside from having the app available for them to access,” he added. —NB, GMA Integrated News