Newly installed Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla called on local government units (LGUs) to “act now and act fast” on disaster risk reduction.

Remulla made the statement during the Local and Regional Government Assembly of the 2024 Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

“We hope that through this assembly, we will secure everyone’s commitment to plan and execute decisive and urgent local actions on disaster risk reduction and management more expediently,” Remulla said.

“We all need to act now. We have to act fast,” he added.

He reported that 87.87 percent of LGUs have already developed their Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plans, and 71.05 percent of local governments nationwide have established their Local Climate Change Action Plans.

Moreover, he said 67.93 percent of LGUs have contingency plans, and 87.33 percent have approved community-based disaster risk reduction plans.

The Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction also stressed the need to strengthen the role of local authorities for multi-hazard risk governance, among other priorities.