The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) has signed two key agreements to boost disaster resilience across Negros Island, partnering with the city government of Victorias and the Negros Association of Chief Executives (ACE).

The signing comes in the wake of the April 8 eruption of Mt. Kanlaon, which displaced more than 25,000 residents.

The memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Victorias City focuses on enhancing the city’s disaster risk reduction and management capabilities, allowing access to the OCD’s technical resources, training programs and scientific data.

The second MOA, signed with the Negros ACE led by Victorias Mayor and group president Javier Miguel Benitez, expands the initiative to a provincial scale, targeting all local government units in Negros Occidental.

“We have around 300 volcanoes in the country. We have 24 active, one of which is Kanlaon. As you can also see, we are trying to catch up on preparations for earthquakes,” OCD Administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said in a statement over the weekend.

Nepomuceno, who is also executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, added that the OCD can offer “technical, managerial, operational knowledge and scientific data that we get from all other agencies worldwide.”

The OCD said the newly signed agreements are expected to pave the way for a potential Negros Island DRRM summit and a more unified disaster resilience framework for the region.

Nepomuceno assured local leaders nationwide of support from the national government in times of calamities. (PNA)