MANILA, Philippines -- In the wake of recent floods and landslides in the Philippines, the government reconfirmed its commitment to make more than 60,000 schools and hospitals safer during disasters.

At a ceremony to launch UNISDR “Making Cities Resilient: My City Is Getting Ready!” Campaign at East Rembo Elementary School in Makati City, 20 Metro Manila mayors also signed up in support of the campaign.

Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate committee on climate change, committed a significant portion of her P200-million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) under the 2011 budget bill for the construction of green and safe schools.

“We want to build not just school buildings, but green schools that are disaster-resilient. We want these schools to be innovative and environment-friendly by putting up rainwater catch systems, by growing vegetable gardens, by using renewable energy and by setting up a recycling program, among others,” Legarda said.

Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro said that with at least 20 typhoons visiting the Philippines every year, it will be good to engage the students, teachers, and the community, and encourage shared responsibility among all.

It will be recalled that tropical storm “Ondoy” in 2009 caused P73.870 million in damages to schools, with Metro Manila absorbing more than P35 million worth of damages to 42 primary and secondary schools.

The One Million Safe Schools and Hospitals Campaign encourages an individual, a family, a community, an organization, a government, a business or any other entity to make a pledge for a school or hospital and make them safer now to survive disasters. Since its launch in April 2010 in the Philippines, more than 80,000 schools and hospitals have been pledged for safety worldwide. (http://www.safe-schools-hospitals.net/).

This initiative is part of the Resilient Cities Global Campaign of UNISDR for 2010 and 2011, and builds upon the 2006-2007 Global Campaign on Safe Schools, and the 2008-2009 Global Campaign on Safe Hospitals. Since its launch in May 2010, more than 300 cities have already joined the UNISDR World Disaster Reduction Campaign and are committed to complying with one or more of the Ten Essentials. Among them are Mexico City (Mexico), Durban (South Africa), Bogota (Colombia), Port-au-Prince (Haiti), Amman, (Jordan), Albay (the Philippines), Cairns (Australia), Chennai City (India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Kathmandu (Nepal) and Saint Louis (Senegal). More information can be obtained from the website: http://www.unisdr.org/campaign