After six years of languishing in the sidelines, the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CPDRRMO) is once again elevated into a full-fledged department status — a move Governor Pamela Baricuatro has championed as part of her administration’s commitment to safeguarding lives and properties of the Cebuanos.
During its regular session on September 15, the Provincial Board (PB) approved on third and final reading the ordinance reconstituting the CPDRRMO as a separate department within the provincial government, greatly bolstering the province’s disaster preparedness and response capabilities moving forward.
“We will grow fast and stay safe. “We will institutionalize disaster protocols, not improvise them. will integrate early-warning systems, data dashboards, and LGU hotlines. will plan climate-smart infrastructure—flood control, slope protection, coastal defense—with discipline,” Gov. Baricuatro said during her State of the Province Address last month. She reinforced this commitment through Executive Order 23, which reconstituted the disaster office as one of her first initiatives immediately after she took her oath as Cebu’s new governor.
The “CPDRRMO Ordinance of 2025”, authored by PB Member Celestino “Tining” Martinez III, institutionalizes the CPDRRMO’s authority to conduct research, strengthen early warning systems, coordinate with LGUs, and mobilize emergency response teams. It also provides an initial ₱10 million allocation for its operations, with regular funding to be included in future budgets.
“Making the office a department is good for our capability, good for our personnel fill-up, and good in terms of how we can perform our mandate,” said Ret. Colonel Dennis Francis Pastor, chief of the CPDRRMO, adding that the move empowers his team to deliver faster and more effective response when needed.
The CPDRRMO was a department during the time of former governor Hilario Davide III. However, the immediate past administration downgraded into a mere division under the Office of the Governor for the past six years now, greatly limiting its capability to perform its mandate under the law.
Governor Baricuatro stressed that restoring it into the status of a department is essential to restoring Cebu’s full disaster preparedness capability, especially as the province — and the rest of the country — face more and more calamities in stronger force with more debilitating effects in recent times.
“Being one of the big provinces outside Metro Manila, we should have more capabilities,” PB Martinez said in highlighting the need to re-operationalize the CPDRRMO as a full department.
He lamented that Cebu has faced multiple disasters over the years including the pandemic and super typhoon Odette, which clearly called for a stronger, institutionalized disaster management body.
“Compared sa LGUs grabi na kaaayo ilang preparedness, response — ang ilang capabilities are far beyond what we have sa Kapitolyo,” he added.
The CPDRRMO will now consist of four divisions: Disaster Preparedness Information and Training; Research, Documentation, Statistics and Planning; Operations, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction; and Emergency Response, Search and Rescue. Each division is designed to strengthen Cebu’s readiness not just in response, but also in prevention and recovery. |𝑺𝑬𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑶𝑵 𝑷𝑯𝑶𝑻𝑶𝑺: 𝑱𝑼𝑵𝑱𝑰𝑬 𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑶𝒁𝑨, 𝑪𝑨𝑷𝑰𝑻𝑶𝑳 𝑷𝑰𝑶
