No plan, no funds: OCD-6 tightens LGU disaster spending

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-6 is tightening its oversight of the disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) plans and funds of local government units (LGUs) to ensure that public money is spent only on programs authorized under existing law.

Atty. Melissa Banias, chief of the DRRM Division of OCD-6, said the review and approval of a local DRRM plan is mandatory before an LGU can tap its Local DRRM Fund.

Banias said existing guidelines require every city and municipality to organize a Local DRRM Plan Review Team to evaluate proposed disaster-related programs, projects, and activities before implementation.

At the provincial level, she said, a Provincial Review Team also evaluates local DRRM plans. It is composed of members of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and representatives of the OCD.

City and municipal review teams include provincial and regional representatives to ensure compliance with national DRRM policies.

“We have to ensure that all that is spent and charged to the local DRRM fund is in their plan. If it is not included in the plan, it should not be funded,” Banias said Wednesday, July 22.

“The critical area here is sometimes our local DRRM fund is prone to abuse, like we can just have other activities and we use the fund although it is not in the local DRRM plan,” she added.

OCD-6 approved 53 local DRRM plans across Western Visayas in 2025.

The Local DRRM Fund is the amount an LGU sets aside to finance disaster risk reduction, preparedness, response, recovery, and rehabilitation activities.

Under the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, or Republic Act No. 10121, LGUs must allocate no less than 5% of their estimated revenue from regular sources to the fund.

Of that amount, 30% is earmarked as the Quick Response Fund for urgent relief and emergency response.

The remaining 70% finances disaster preparedness, prevention, mitigation, rehabilitation, and recovery programs, including training, equipment acquisition, evacuation facilities, and risk reduction projects.

The same law provides that unexpended balances of the Local DRRM Fund accrue to a special trust fund reserved for disaster risk reduction activities over the following five years, after which unused amounts revert to the general fund.

The tighter review also arrives as national policy shifts toward spending ahead of disasters rather than after them. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 12287, or the Declaration of State of Imminent Disaster Act, on Sept. 12, 2025, placing anticipatory action inside the country’s disaster risk reduction and management system.

Under that law, a declaration of imminent disaster — recommended by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to the President, or by regional councils to local chief executives — permits the early release of government funds to blunt a hazard before it lands.

Humanitarian organizations that supported the measure have pressed LGUs to write anticipatory action into their local disaster risk reduction and management plans, which would route those measures through the same review teams Banias described.

Banias said OCD-6 aims to ensure that disaster programs are tailored to the hazards and risks faced by each locality instead of following a one-size-fits-all approach.

She said local DRRM programs should reflect factors such as hazard exposure, geographical terrain, and the financial capacity of each local government.

“Not all LGUs have the same disaster risks. Programs should address the actual issues and hazards in their respective localities,” Banias said.

She added that fourth- to sixth-class municipalities generally have fewer resources for disaster risk reduction than wealthier first- to third-class LGUs, making sound planning and efficient fund use even more critical.

Banias said the review mechanism serves as a check-and-balance system to ensure that only approved programs are implemented and financed through the Local DRRM Fund.

She added that review teams may require LGUs to revise or improve their plans before granting approval.

Once the revisions are complete and the plan complies with existing guidelines, the appropriate review body may approve it, allowing the LGU to proceed with implementation.

Western Visayas sits in the country’s typhoon corridor. The Philippines is struck by an average of 20 tropical cyclones each year.