Protecting Lives and Properties against Calamities: The Experiences of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Personnel

Disaster risk management refers to the application of plans and procedures for reducing disaster risk to prevent new disaster risks, minimize current disaster risk, and manage residual risk. This process helps to reduce disaster losses and increase resilience (Disaster Risk Management | UNDRR, 2007). This study explored the experiences of disaster risk reduction and management personnel through a qualitative research method. The participants of this study were the ten (10) participants chosen from the five (5) DRRM sectors in the municipalities of the Province of Guimaras. All participants were subjected to individual in-depth interviews. The findings of this study are described in emergent themes. Four (4) emergent themes described the positive and negative experiences of the participants in the implementation of disaster risk reduction and management programs. For the positive experiences, two (2) emergent themes were developed, namely: Empowering Community Resilience and Satisfaction of Effective Crisis Response. For the negative experiences, two (2) emergent themes were also developed, namely: Hurdles in Promoting Public Compliance and Inadequate Resources and Manpower Constraints. Meanwhile, two (2) emergent themes were formulated to explain how the participants address the challenges encountered in the implementation of disaster risk reduction and management programs, namely: Collaborative Partnerships for Resource Management and Capacity Building through Continuous Training. Finally, two (2) emergent themes were created to express the Aspirations of the Participants to Improve the Quality of Service, namely: Institutional Support and Resource Sustainability and Fostering Proactive Community Engagement. Based on the emergent themes identified, it is advised that the DRRM personnel be provided with consistent resource management and community engagement training to enhance their ability to address constraints more effectively and promote a proactive stance on disaster risk reduction.