The Philippine archipelago lies off the southeast coast of the Asian mainland, a little above the Equator.  The country is situated within the so-called typhoon belt and is visited by no less than twenty typhoons annually.  In the season of rains, floods and tidal waves are not infrequent.  The destruction of watersheds and forest during last tree decades has increased the occurrence of flashfloods in many areas across the country.  The Philippines also lies within the Pacific seismic belt and earthquakes of gravely calamitous proportions have hit it time and again.  Volcanoes abound in the archipelago.  At least ten of these are active.  The eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 was the most severe in the last 80 years.

Filipinos have had to cope with calamities since time immemorial.  U.S. colonial officials who took over governance of the country at the turn of the century realized at once the need for organized disaster relief.  Col. W.C. Rivers, Chief of the Philippine Constabulary and a member of the Philippine Red Cross Board saw the urgent necessity for such an organization when he headed the relief work undertaken by the U.S. Army for victims of the Taal Volcano eruption in 1911 and of the typhoon which devastated Leyte and Surigao in 1912.

When the Philippine Chapter of the American Red Cross was established in 1917, Disaster Relief was a charter obligation.  By 1920, the foundations for a national disaster relief program were already established.  In 1929, a Legislative Act signed by Governor General Dwight Davis gave the Red Cross authority to assume leadership in relief operations – a function carried by the Red Cross until the outbreak of World War II.

After its establishment in 1947, the PNRC has sought to establish and maintain system of disaster preparedness and relief that can be applied in meeting the emergency situations that may be caused by typhoons, floods, fires, earthquake, landslides and other natural hazards.  The Red Cross has further devised a carried out measures to minimize the ill effect of both natural and human-induced disasters.

The DMS department has now adopted a two-pronged approach in dealing with disasters.  The department’s work involves Disaster Relief Activities (DRA) and Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness (DPMP).

DRA involves the provision of relief to victims of natural or human-induced disasters.  In 1994 alone, the PNRC extended assistance to some 608,510 families or 2.3 million persons stricken by natural calamities.  Ninety five percent of those aided were victims of the 25 typhoons that visited the country that year.  The rest were victims of other natural hazards as lahar flows, landslides, flash floods, earthquakes and naval accidents.

As the Red Cross movement began as a response to the horrors of war, Red Cross societies have always been at the frontline of disaster relief operations involving human-induced disasters including those caused by armed conflict.  In the Philippines, the Red Cross distinguished itself during the Second World War by providing relief to the injured and starving, especially children.  In the years that followed the PNRC made its presence felt in various battle zones of subsequent internal conflicts, providing medical care and relief to victims and combatants on the sides.

In 1994, DMS, then DPRS, assisted 22,579 families affected by human-induced disasters.

DPMP involves improving the capabilities of grass roots commodities to deal with disasters.  Various projects such as Disaster Management Training, Basic Disaster Management Training and Integrated Community Disaster Planning Programme are implemented in communities by the PNRC with funding from other Red Cross societies.

Whereas the Red Cross used to focus on what to do during a disaster, the DMS now identifies hazard prone areas and makes vulnerability assessment of these areas.  Volunteers assess the preparedness of a community to deal with disasters and try to maximize.

The Disaster Response Team is a unit composed of personnel from the various services who are sent to disaster areas.

Aside from relief operations, the DMS is also involved in rehabilitation efforts.  Whenever funding is available, housing units, livelihoods projects, health and sanitation services are provided disaster victims.

Through the past years, the PNRC has endeavored to improve its effectivity by developing its own capabilities.  With the help of other Red Cross societies, the transportation and communication facilities of 85 chapters across the country have been augmented.  The DMS now has its own communication facilities, so that information can be readily made available even during disasters.  Warehouses have also been set up in critical areas.  Local chapters can resupply these warehouses and with the availability of adequate transport all local chapters can now be resupplied during emergencies.