Five years past since its approval, the enhancement of the Regional Disaster Response Plan (RDRP) was conducted last Friday, March 18, 2022 during the Regional Disaster Response Committee (RDRC) Enhancement Workshop facilitated by DSWD Field Office Caraga.

Spearheaded by the Disaster Response Management Division (DRMD), the workshop was participated by all of the member agencies of the Disaster Response Committee, the one-day event aims to develop mechanisms and identify activities to attain a coherent and coordinated implementation of the disaster response policies, provide guidance to all agencies in times of disaster, and to strengthen and harmonize all collaborative efforts during emergencies to efficiently respond to the needs of the affected areas.

The RDRP enhancement was deemed relevant after the recent typhoon Odette hit the region last year. During the workshop, respective clusters underscoring both the good practices and the gaps experienced during the course of the relief operations. Cluster representatives presented and brought their inputs to make the existing disaster response plan even more effective in the event of any disaster occurrences in the region.

In his message, Regional Director Ramel Jamen underscored the importance of the role of the RDRC in addressing the current challenges as the operations transition to the early phase of recovery.

“We really appreciate everybody’s presence today. Please know that we truly need your inputs as we will discuss and address the challenges we have encountered during our respective disaster response operation. In that way, we will come up a more relevant and efficient disaster response plan” RD Jamen stated.