The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF)

61 members

The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) is the coordinator of private sector efforts in disaster risk reduction and management in the Philippines. PDRF was established in 2009 after Typhoon Ketsana and it complements and coordinates its efforts with the Government and the UN system. It has over 60 members who are organized in clusters and provide support according to their core competencies. PDRF aims to build disaster-resilient communities and businesses through private sector engagement. PDRF promotes learning and development in disaster management, more specifically, business continuity management, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation for PDRF’s network of corporations, micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), communities, and various partner organizations. PDRF also develops and implements programs in the areas of community resilience, recovery and rehabilitation, and research and innovation. During disaster response, the PDRF Emergency Operations Center coordinates the efforts of member companies and ensures that the needs of vulnerable populations are addressed.

PDRF, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2021, continued activities responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, mobilizing its member companies to support the national vaccination campaign, reaching out to vulnerable communities including people living with disabilities, providing meals to medical workers in COVID-19 referral hospitals, and organizing workshops on mental health.

PDRF also provided assistance to communities evacuated and affected by the eruption of Taal volcano in July 2021, distributing hygiene kits and children toys. PDRF also engaged on issues related to the climate emergency, co-organizing the Philippine Water Challenge and collecting donations to plant trees during World Humanitarian Day.

The experience and knowledge of PDRF was also essential in support- ing programmes on business continuity. In partnership with UNDP and OCHA Philippines and with the support of CBi, PDRF launched a digital platform called the SIKAP MSME Resilience Hub. SIKAP, which is short for “Synergizing Recovery Initiatives, Knowledge, and Adaptation Practices for MSMEs", is a unified online hub of tools and information on COVID-19 response and recovery tips for MSMEs. Aside from being an online knowl- edge hub, SIKAP also facilitated an MSME survey to gather inputs on the impacts of COVID-19. Through SIKAP, PDRF, UNDP and OCHA Philippines also developed PUHON, a strategic foresight planning toolkit for MSMEs.

PDRF also developed a training programme for hospitals and other Gov- ernment agencies on business continuity and continued to implement its programme for the conflict-affected communities of Marawi, conducting training for first responders and installing 109 rainwater catchments to provide clean water in the community.

PDRF was actively involved in the response to Typhoon Rai (known locally as Typhoon Odette), which struck the Philippines on 16 December, claiming 407 lives and displacing more than 500,000 people. Thanks to its private sector-led Emergency Operations Centre, PDRF was ready to intervene within hours. It organized operational briefings for its member companies and partners in coordination with the Government and UN representatives. PDRF deployed teams to the most affected provinces for rapid damage and needs assessments and represented the Filipino pri- vate sector in meetings with the UN Humanitarian Country Team, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Philippine Red Cross and other stakeholders. The network provided 196,000 ready-to-eat meals, transported over 200 tons of goods and assisted about 70,000 families with food rations. In total, the private sector contributed over US$5.5 mil- lion through in-kind donations and US$400,000 in cash.

Finally, PDRF collaborated with CBi to share their experience through three knowledge products: Responding to Multiple Disasters: Case Study on
the PDRF Emergency Operations Center and Response to Super Typhoon Goni and Vamco during the COVID-19 Pandemic; Guidance on Emergency Response Planning: Lessons from the PDRF Experience; Integrating Conflict Sensitivity in Private Sector Disaster Management: Lessons from the PDRF.

For more information, please visit: www.pdrf.org

Cover photo: PDRF