KABALAKA pact strengthens Iloilo disaster-ready culture

Iloilo City has strengthened its disaster preparedness platform through a memorandum of understanding with MORE Electric and Power Corp., Metro Pacific Iloilo Water and Quantum Digital Services Inc.

Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu led the signing during the opening of KABALAKA Expo 2.0 at Convention Drive in Iloilo Business Park on July 15, 2026.

The Institute of Contemporary Economics, or ICE, said the agreement was significant not merely as a ceremonial act but as another step toward building a permanent culture of preparedness in Iloilo City.

KABALAKA stands for KAhublagan sa BArangay para sa LApnagon nga KAhandaan sa KAlamidad, an initiative promoting community-based disaster preparedness.

The Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office describes KABALAKA as its campaign banner under the Community-Based Adaptation and Resilience Against Disasters project.

ICE said the initiative should not emerge only when a disaster is imminent because Iloilo already faces recurring risks from flooding, extreme heat, power interruptions, water stress, communication gaps, pressure on emergency responders and difficulties in coordinating public action during crises.

These threats are no longer occasional concerns but part of the operating reality of a growing and increasingly complex city, the institute said.

The MOU seeks to institutionalize the expo as a recurring venue for disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, emergency response, business continuity, public awareness and community resilience.

The 2026 expo ran from July 15 to 17 and brought government agencies, emergency responders, academic institutions, utilities, private companies and community groups into a shared public space.

ICE recognized the role of the Office of Civil Defense Region 6 in expanding disaster risk reduction and management activities, interagency coordination and public preparedness programs under Regional Director Raul E. Fernandez.

OCD Region 6 was not listed among the private-sector MOU signatories, but it served as a principal government partner in the expo and its preparedness activities.

Fernandez addressed the expo’s opening and expressed support for the continued expansion of partnerships established through the event.

ICE said the regional office was doing more than lending its name to the program.

The institute said OCD Region 6 was helping connect local disaster risk reduction and management offices, national agencies, regional partners, simulations, demonstrations and council-level support into a more active preparedness network.

That sustained institutional work is important in a region exposed to flooding, extreme heat, earthquakes, power interruptions and other compound risks, ICE said.

Fernandez previously urged local governments in Western Visayas to strengthen partnerships and maintain community engagement as climate change and urbanization create evolving disaster risks.

ICE cited the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office as one of the country’s more visibly institutionalized local disaster management offices.

The city office has repeatedly received the Gawad KALASAG “Beyond Compliant” distinction for exceeding national standards governing the establishment and operation of local disaster risk reduction and management councils and offices.

The CDRRMO earned the distinction for three consecutive years through 2024, according to the office’s official history.

The office operates decentralized Iloilo City Action and Resilience, or ICARE, centers that position emergency personnel and resources in strategic areas of the city.

Seven ICARE centers were operational as of 2024, according to the CDRRMO.

The CDRRMO also maintains an operations center that can be activated as an Emergency Operations Center when major incidents require centralized command and coordination.

Its capabilities include emergency medical response, urban search and rescue, information technology support, barangay-level disaster risk reduction work, preparedness planning and public education through KABALAKA.

ICE said these systems demonstrate that preparedness is not created through slogans.

Preparedness is built by offices that train personnel, document procedures, coordinate institutions, respond to emergencies, evaluate their work and return to the public with clearer systems and stronger capabilities, the institute said.

ICE also credited Treñas-Chu with keeping KABALAKA on the city’s public agenda at a time when disaster preparedness can easily be treated as a technical concern left solely to emergency responders.

The institute said the value of mayoral leadership in disaster risk reduction was not that a mayor personally operated the response system.

Political leadership instead gives preparedness public visibility, continuity and the authority to bring government offices, companies, utilities, volunteers, barangays and residents together, ICE said.

The city government’s decision to establish KABALAKA as an annual program indicates that it is not treating the expo as a one-time event, the institute added.

ICE Chairman Artemio “Junie” Pama signed the agreement in his capacity as chief executive officer of Quantum Digital Services Inc., a managed-services provider in the digital connectivity sector.

ICE was not an institutional signatory to the agreement, but the partnership aligns with the institute’s continuing advocacy for disaster risk reduction and resilient urban systems.

The institute has maintained that resilience cannot be limited to emergency response after a disaster has occurred.

Resilience must be incorporated into electricity, water, communications, transportation, barangay organization, public information and institutional coordination, ICE said.

The participation of private companies and utility providers is therefore a critical part of the city’s preparedness system.

During an emergency, residents do not experience government services, electricity, water, connectivity, rescue and public information as separate systems.

They experience those services as one connected chain, ICE said.

MORE Power represents electricity service, while Metro Pacific Iloilo Water represents water supply and continuity.

Quantum Digital Services represents connectivity, while OCD Region 6 provides civil defense coordination and the Iloilo City Government oversees local emergency governance.

ICE said the failure of any part of the chain could weaken emergency response.

Planning the systems together, however, could help make the city safer and improve the continuity of essential services, the institute added.

KABALAKA provides a public venue where responders, barangays, volunteers, utilities, technology providers, civil society organizations and residents can better understand their interconnected roles.

The expo included interactive exhibits and activities intended to teach disaster prevention, preparedness and resilience through practical and accessible experiences.

Demonstrations, volunteer recruitment, public discussions, exhibits and technology showcases may appear to be individual event components, ICE said.

Together, however, they show residents that resilience must be developed through practice and not merely written into plans.

ICE said a safer Iloilo could not be built through policy papers alone.

It also could not be built by the government acting alone, the institute added.

Building resilience will require institutions that prepare early, companies that contribute equipment and expertise, utilities that strengthen service continuity, barangays that organize residents and citizens who know what to do before emergency instructions arrive.

ICE said the transition “from kabalaka to kahandaan” should not remain merely an event theme.

It should become a continuing habit in governance and community life.

“Preparedness is also infrastructure, and Iloilo needs more of it,” the institute said.