The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) revealed that 70 percent of towns and cities in the Philippines are prone to flooding.

Thus, it launched the Seal of Disaster Preparedness for Floods (SDP) which will honor local governments in their disaster preparedness efforts.

DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo said that through the SDP program, the department will be able to assess the local government units' performance gaps and provide intervention for such. It will also monitor performance progress.

Meanwhile, the province of Iloilo has received P414,700 from Secretary Robredo as financial assistance for the procurement of life-saving search and rescue equipment.

Sec. Robredo gave the check to Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. during the launching Thursday of the Tapatan on Disaster Preparedness road show at Sarabia Manor Hotel and Convention Center here.

Defensor said the province received the subsidy as one of the pilot local government units (LGUs) for the procurement of the life-saving search and rescue equipment under the locally funded project "Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction and Management-Climate Change Adaptation in Local Government Systems and Processes."

The province of Iloilo is also a recipient of the DILG Seal of Good Housekeeping Award last year and has been chosen to receive the financial assistance. The amount will particularly be given to the high-risk municipalities of Tubungan, Alimodian and Igbaras.

DILG Regional Dir. Evelyn Trompeta said the DILG came up with the Tapatan program to promote in local communities the importance of preparedness against climate change, the present day greatest challenge.

She said climate change has now also become an economic development issue.*PNA