By: John Colin Yokingco and Luigi Toda

The OML Center participated in the “Megacities Forum on Building Urban Resilience: RA 10121: Achievements, Challenges and Progress in Local Implementations” held last 11^th of July 2014 in the Session Hall of Makati City Hall. The event, which showcased the launch of Institute for Urban Resilience (URI) of Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative (EMI) and a discussion forum on the implementation of Republict Act 10121, was jointly organized by EMI and the City Government of Makati.

The discussion forum served as a venue for the discussion of issues and achievements related to the implementation of RA 10121, the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Law, through sharing of experiences and best practices and a self-assessment exercise on core functions of DRRM. The forum comprised of presentations by keynote speakers, such as Dr. Renato Solidum, PHIVOLCS Director, who discussed the role of science in policy-making, and two DRRM Officers from Pasig City and Quezon City who shared their experiences in implementing RA 10121 in their respective localities. The later part of the forum was dedicated to an exercise to assess the implementation of RA 10121 in Metro Manila using the Disaster Risk Resiliency Indicators (DRRI) tool as its rating system.