Legarda Cites Gov’t Efforts to Provide Public Easy Access to Hazard Info

Senator Loren Legarda lauded the efforts of government, especially the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), to provide the public with easy access to information on hazards and vulnerabilities.

Legarda, Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committees, said she looks forward to the completion of the mobile application on the geo-hazard map, which the DENR is developing in partnership with the PIA, especially with the onset of the rainy season.

“When more people are able to access real-time information on hazards and weather events, more lives will be saved,” she said.

According to the DENR, the mobile application facility will offer the geo-hazard map as a default reference.

It will be useful for government agencies’ dissemination effort of relevant advisories, alerts and mobilization information; while the public can access it for disaster warnings, emergency alerts, situational reports, other important advisories and relevant tips on safety and disaster preparedness.

“I commend the DENR and PIA for creating this application and I hope that this will further strengthen convergence among government agencies to be able to provide accurate and real-time information to the public. A crucial step in building resilience and reducing disaster risks is dissemination of risk information, early warning and disaster preparedness tips to individuals and communities. We hope that this project will help achieve the goal of making every citizen disaster-literate,” said Legarda.

Legarda suggested to also include air quality monitoring and data on water quality and solid waste management.

The DENR said other functions may be developed depending on technical feasibility.

The mobile application is expected to be released in July 2014.