Pinoys much more disaster ready now — Harvard survey
UNDER the leadership of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the Philippines has made significant strides in disaster preparedness.
This was revealed by a recent survey from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) showing Filipinos are more prepared for disasters now than they were several years ago.
According to the survey, the self-reported disaster preparedness levels of Filipinos have increased by an average of 42 percent over the past seven years.
Data were collected from 4,608 Filipinos across all regions between February and March 2024, showing an average score of 19.2 across five objective measures of disaster preparedness: planning, training, material investment, information, and social support.
This is higher than the 13.5 result in a pioneering study conducted by HHI in 2017, which used the same methodology and instruments.
However, as the Philippines remains one of the countries most at risk for natural disasters, HHI still highlighted the need to intensify the country’s disaster preparedness efforts.
Support and investment remain essential, especially in areas like local leadership, leveraging technology to improve early warning systems, community engagement, building resilient infrastructures, and enhancing anticipatory actions.
In October, President Marcos led the opening ceremony of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) in Pasay City.
In his speech, the President emphasized the importance of the private sector in “advancing investments and practices in environmental, social, and governance areas.”
“Through collaborative research, information sharing, and innovative financing, we continue to strengthen and deepen our partnerships with these key stakeholders,” he said.
“On our side, we remain steadfast in empowering our local authorities and working closely with our youth to implement nature-based and ecosystem-centered solutions that not only address their unique challenges, but also honor their local traditions and practices.”
During the event, President Marcos also called for a safer, more adaptive, inclusive, and disaster-resilient future where the need for recovery becomes less frequent. PCO
