The University of the Philippines Resilience Institute (UPRI), led by Dr. Emmanuel Luna, a disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) expert, and his team recently conducted a site validation of the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture’s (CBSUA) Land Use Development and Infrastructure Plan (LUDIP) and made notable recommendations and steps to improve the aforementioned on March 9, 2023.
The CBSUA LUDIP Technical Working Group, headed by Dr. Emerson Bergonio, welcomed the UPRI team and provided them with an overview of the plan’s current status. The UPRI team then conducted a site validation to assess the plan’s strengths and weaknesses.
After the validation, Dr. Luna praised CBSUA’s efforts to prioritize disaster resilience in their LUDIP. He also commended the university for involving various stakeholders in the planning process and for considering the impacts of climate change on their infrastructure development plans.
However, Dr. Luna also identified areas that need improvement, such as incorporating the latest scientific data on climate change and hazards, strengthening their emergency response plans, and considering the needs of vulnerable groups in their infrastructure development.
The CBSUA LUDIP Technical Working Group acknowledged the recommendations and committed to addressing the identified gaps. They expressed gratitude to the UPRI team for their valuable insights and promised to use them to improve the CBSUA LUDIP further.
Overall, the site validation conducted by UPRI is a positive step towards enhancing the resilience of CBSUA’s infrastructure and ensuring that they are better prepared to face future disasters and climate change impacts.
