Arniel Ali (standing, in white shirt) explains the project and the basic principles of DRR to residents of Barangay Dapantis, Rajah Buayan.
A total of 90 participants in two barangays of Rajah Buayan, Province of Maguindanao have taken part in Community Orientation on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) conducted by the Kadtuntaya Foundation, Inc. (KFI) last June 7 and 8, 2012.
According to Arniel Ali, community organizer and staff member of Diakonie-Katastrophenhilfe-assisted “Reducing Risk, Promoting Peace: An Integrated DRR, Recovery and Peace Project in Central Mindanao,” the said activity, which was respectively held in barangays Panadtaban and Dapantis, was actively participated by community residents, their leaders, as well as by local government officials and even by so-called local commanders in the area.
Main contents of the orientation were the basic principles of DRR (identification of hazards or risks, vulnerability analysis, and appropriate response); Philippine laws related to DRR such as PD 1566 and RA 10121; and situational analysis and conflict management.
Ali further said that community response to their series of orientations has been positive, with nine out of 12 barangays expressing gratitude for the informative inputs KFI have given or shared to them. But the most commonly still asked question by the participants, he added, was: What livelihood project will follow next.
Rajah Buayan and Datu Salibo, another town covered by the project, are two newly-created towns in Maguindanao during the reign of the Ampatuan clan. In addition to displacements caused by intermittent fighting between the government forces and the Moro fronts including splinter groups, their predominantly Maguindaon populace are also frequently affected by the perennial flooding due to the increasing water level of Pulangi River or Rio Grande de Mindanao.
Thus, a series of seminar-workshops on climate change and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) will be their next priority project activities, Ali said.
On May 24, 2012, the same activity was conducted in the Municipality of Rajah Buayan with the participation of 150 local government officials
