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TACLOBAN CITY, (PNA) — Local government units (LGUs) in Eastern Visayas region welcome the newly launched Build Back Better Operations Manual by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The manual, with the acronym BBBOM, is designed to ensure effective implementation of post-disaster infrastructure. The manual aims to empower local authorities and communities to incorporate better planning measures in post-disaster recovery.

Rolyn Zambales, director of the DILG Office of Project Development Services, said the BBBOM, was produced by Australian Volunteers for International Development, in collaboration with the DILG.

It ensures the rehabilitation of structurally sound buildings that are capable of withstanding calamities and protecting families and communities during times of disaster

“The BBBOM, not ‘baby boom’, is designed to ensure effective implementation of post-disaster infrastructure in line with international principles of disaster resilience and recovery,” Zambales quipped during the formal launching ceremony on November 7.

The BBB Operations Manual focuses on infrastructure preparedness measures, as a guide to ensuring that adequate preparation prior to calamities takes place in a timely, comprehensive and holistic manner.

The Build Back Better principles outlined in the manual include: consultation, information gathering, social inclusions, economic recovery, resilient infrastructure, resilient communities, local empowerment. These aim to further efforts to empower local authorities and communities to incorporate planning, consultation, analysis, design, construction and community in broader post-disaster recovery.

The manual provides four modules that will help to guide local government engineers, planners and government officials in their efforts to rebuild local community structures to “Build Back Better” standards. These include: resilient infrastructure, project management, architecture and design, climate change, urban planning, engineering and quality construction.

In an earlier interview, DILG Regional Director Pedro Noval is hopeful that operations manual will help improve the overall resilience of communities in the face of climate change impact and vulnerability of the country to natural disasters.

Introducing the concepts of Build Back Better to the local government units is a core objective of the Rehabilitation After Yolanda (RAY) Project to improve the overall resilience of communities in the face of climate change impacts, namely more frequents and intense destructive weather events, and in recognizing the vulnerability of the Philippines to multiple natural disasters.

The BBB Operations Manual is the culmination of the collaboration between AVID and the DILG from September 2014 ro July 2015, with AVID volunteers based both in Eastern Visayas region and Quezon City in Manila.

Build Back Better is one of the efforts being done by the Aquino administration under the Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda (RAY) program. The program aims to facilitate sustainable, long-term recovery in Yolanda-affected areas through rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged city and municipal buildings. (PNA)
FFC/SQM/AHLETTE C. REYES/EGR