Resiliency, adaptability and capacity to cope with disasters and emergency situations are the crucial things that participants learned during a three-day seminar on Business Continuity Planning initiated by the Department of Trade and Industry-CAR. As its initial effort to prepare the MSMEs and trade service providers of the Cordillera provinces, DTI-CAR and the University of the Philippines Institute for Small Scale Industries (UPISSI) conducted said planning session to equip participants with coping mechanisms and knowledge on how to keep businesses going and lessen the impact of risky situations.
It was noted during the seminar that among those who suffer the consequences of disasters and calamities are the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as also reflected in the high ranking of the Philippines as third Most at Risk in the 2016 World Risk Index. After a series of brain-storming sessions and workshops facilitated by the UP-ISSI, the participants identified by DTI-CAR were able to develop a plan as a contingency measure should disasters and calamities affect their businesses.
A representative from Sagada, Mountain Province who is engaged in arts, crafts and woven items presented a typhoon and landslide scenario wherein in order to meet their demands, they increase their finished products to be stocked in Baguio City. In the past, in order to ensure their business continuity in case of road-cuts along major routes leading to their place, they resort to hiring baggage couriers and cutting trips which also endanger their workers. With the BCP training, they are now considering to adapt measures like keeping a disaster kit, stock-piling raw materials during non-rainy months.
The representative of a furniture maker based in Abra claimed that among their top problems are power interruptions and flooding. To ensure continuous production, they acquired semi-industrial power and they maintain good employee-employer relationships to get worker’s loyalty.
The other participants also presented situations that to ensure continuous delivery of services to provincial and regional outlets and offices and lessen costs of hampered delivery, they intend to procure standalone devices such as pocket wi-fi and adopt data back-up mechanisms by storing physical and electronic copies of important documents via digital online storage systems like iCloud.
The plans and group outputs presented includes personnel orientation on basic maintenance of office equipment, ensuring the availability of emergency lights and back-up laptops with uninterrupted power supply and regular check-up and maintenance. The participants also started to formulate emergency office and family evacuation plans and considered acquiring disaster emergency and survival kits.
A participant from a construction firm based in Conner Apayao presented a typical risk scenario during heavy rains that usually prompt them to stop their operation. However, as a facility that engages heavy equipment and manual labor, their firm issues complete protective gear to their workers, and they have trained first aiders and qualified safety engineers.
DTI-CAR Regional Director Myrna Pablo during the presentation pointed out that it should always be preventive rather than corrective urging MSMEs to be able to network with utility and emergency service providers in their communities. On the DTI side, Atty. Samuel Gallardo of the Consumer Protection Division presented part of their plan to provide training or orientation on trade and industry laws and procedures to government enforcers of the consumer laws and prepare a continuity plan for DTI-CAR, convene a disaster response committee and promote BCP within the community. UP-ISSI’s Evaluator Leoncio Cubillas Jr. suggested many important things to the BMC presenters citing facility upgrading measures and the importance of systematized operation mobility including the segregation of hot and cold operation for food processing and preparation. In closing the three day seminar, Pablo said that continuous learning and growth are among the values that DTI hopes to continue to instill to MSME partners and clients and she committed that more BCP training will be scheduled in the Cordillera.** Art Tibaldo/DTI-CAR
