Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Disaster Management Programs in Dagupan City

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Disaster is inevitable, unpredictable and out of human control. There is no tried and tested single solution to totally prevent it. However, human acts may reduce the negative results. It is along this lines that this research is anchored. To ensure a minimized disaster loss in Dagupan City, this research evaluated the level of preparedness, level of effectiveness and the problems encountered by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC). This is done through a descriptive-evaluative method where explanations about the existing conditions were taken from the collective perceptions of the respondents. The perception of the respondents was collected using a validated survey questionnaire prepared by the researchers. To analyze the data collected from the sixty-one (61) barangay officials and eighty-six (86) residents of the nine (9) barangays that are usually flooded, weighted mean was use. The data shows that the CDRRMC of Dagupan City is moderately prepared and likewise moderately effective. Despite this however, the CDRRMC is facing some moderately serious problems such as limited number of personnel, lack of training of personnel resulting to the difficulty in the performance of some functions and difficulty in involving the community in the design and management of projects. This goes to show that the CDRRMC lacks sufficient preparations on some programs and such programs were inadequately implemented since some residents were unaware on the existence of such programs.