TO ENHANCE its disaster preparedness program, the University of the Philippines-Los Baños has started holding a series of workshops and training seminars led by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs in partnership with the UP Resilience Institute.

The activities are part of preparations to future-proof the university.

The first training-workshop was on December 1, 2020.

Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs Roberto Cereno said that disaster resilience will be given top priority in the next three years in line with the vision of Chancellor Jose Camacho, Jr.

Cereno said that the outputs of these training sessions will be included in the UPLB administration’s strategic planning.

UPRI Director Dr. Alfredo Mahar Francisco Lagmay commended UPLB’s efforts to prepare ahead of disasters and emphasized the importance of anticipating and preparing for natural disasters and calamities to minimize their damage.

The first session was led by Professor Genaro Cuaresma, director for Institution Building at UPRI and former assistant to the vice chancellor for community affairs.

Prof. Cuaresma presented the objectives and the expected outputs of the workshop, which include developing UPLB’s Public Service Continuity Plan, assigning personnel for its Incident Command System, and laying out UPLB’s Emergency Disaster Risk Protocols.

Three more sessions on future-proofing and disaster resilience are scheduled on December 3, 8, and 10.