▪ The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has contracted the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Bicol to produce a geo-hazard maps detailing hazard areas prone to flooding, landslides, sea level rising, storm surge, volcanic eruptions, lahars and mud flows and other disaster events. Social Welfare Secretary Celia Capadocia Yangco in her recent visit to Legazpi said her agency has released to the DENR some P1.9 million funding for the production of geo-hazard maps covering the six province of Bicol.

The funding is intended for the production and reproduction of geo-hazard maps with scales of 1:50,000 and 1:10,000 for distribution to local government units in selected provinces and towns in Bicol, Yangco said. The agreement between the two departments was in line with DSWD’s “Bicol Recovery Project” supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The 5th National Project Advisory Council meeting of the United Nations Development Programme Fund (UNDP) Bicol Recovery Project (BRP) was held last May 26-27, 2010 at Pepperland Hotel, Legazpi City. Social Welfare and Development Secretary Celia C. Yangco and UNDP Country Director Renaud Meyer graced the activity. NPAC members composed of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) were also represented.

The National Project Advisory Committee meeting aimed to: a) finalize and approve the Annual Work Plan for Calendar Year 2010, b) present the status of the project; and, c) discuss results of the audit observations in the UNDP National Implementation Modality. The BRP, with funding support from UNDP and the DSWD, is a two-year project which seeks to respond to the on-going recovery needs of the Bicolanos and designed to assist families and communities in Bicol who were severely affected by the series of strong typhoons in 2006 particularly Super Typhoon Reming.