Technical cooperation programme on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management at the Local Level : mission report, Philippines, 15-30 November 2024

A cooperation programme has been initiated by France for the benefit of the Philippines to reduce the risk of disasters caused by floods. Cerema, AFD and Expertise France are supporting the Philippine government, represented by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), in implementing its policy of decentralizing risk management. This report reflects the first phase of the bilateral technical cooperation programme, which consisted of the strategic framing of the project, the establishment of a dedicated project team, the preparation of the mission and the mission itself : consultations of national government agencies and consultations and visits to local government units (LGUs)) highly exposed to natural hazards. These actions have led to: • Improve understanding of support needs • Make recommendations to better understand the hazard and adapt human territories and organizations accordingly • Define an activity programme and a working method. The report concludes that in the short term, the most relevant activity would be to carry out a large-scale hydraulic model on the flood prone area of Metro Manila. This model could be refined on Makati City, for the adaptation of its drainage system to the evolution of land use (soil sealing) and the effects of climate change (increase in rainfall over short periods). In the longer term, other actions may be considered based on the results of the hydraulic modelling on Metro Manila: development of another large-scale model on Tuguegarao City to better understand river overflow phenomena on a mixed urban/rural site; expertise for adaptation of the territories of the identified pilot sites (Tuguegarao City, Makati City, Quezon City and Talisay (Batangas Province)) participation in high-level public policy dialogue to adapt the organization and governance according to the technological inputs of modelling and adaptation recommendations of territories; workshop to present the cooperation actions carried out with pilot sites to other local authorities; participation in study visits organized for Filipinos in France.