Australia’s leading university has chosen Bohol as one of the recipients of the project “Capacity Strengthening of Five (5) Provincial Governments and State Universities in Integrating Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the Philippines”. The other provinces are Albay, Quezon, Lanao del Norte and Misamis Oriental.
The Australian National University (ANU), through Dr. Doracie Zoleta-Nantes, entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Provincial Government of Bohol, the Bohol Island State University (BISU) and the Climate Change Academy/Centre for Initiatives and Research on Climate Change Adaptation for Local Government Units in the Philippines (CCA/CIRCA) to collaborate and participate in the AusAID Public Sector Linkages Project.
After the MOA signing, Governor Edgar Chatto issued an Executive Order creating a Provincial Technical Working Group (TWG), chaired by Atty. John Titus Vistal, Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator, and co-chaired by Dr. Elpidio Magante, President of the Bohol Island State University (BISU). The TWG serves as the local coordinating body for the successful implementation of the two-year AusAID Project and is tasked to partner with CCA/CIRCA on project preparation, implementation, and monitoring.
Training sessions were conducted by the ANU-AusAID project to develop the capacity of the Provincial TWG, including the Municipal Planning and Development Coordinators, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officers and other key players of local government units (LGU). One of the outputs of the training was the translation of the training modules into Boholano dialect that will be used by the Bohol Training Team in conducting the training themselves.
Right after the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in October 2013, the Provincial TWG assisted the PPDC by integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation measures in the writing of the Post-Great Bohol Earthquake Rehabilitation Plan . Moreover, brochures and posters on disaster preparedness were also produced, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to raise the level of awareness of the 1,109 barangays of Bohol.
The ANU-AusAID project also gave seed money to seven pilot barangays in the municipalities of Maribojoc, Loon, Calape, Tubigon, San Isidro, Alicia and Valencia. These municipalities were able to submit proposals that met the criteria on project sustainability, commitment of LGU officials, and focus on DRR-CCA.
On the second week of December, Dr. Nantes will be monitoring the AusAID-funded projects in the seven pilot barangays and meet with the Provincial TWG to discuss the next steps of the ANU project.