Empowering Resilient Communiies through Responsible Campus Journalism

Resilience is the ability to anticipate risk, limit impact, and bounce back rapidly through survival, adaptability, evolution, and growth in the face of turbulent change.Resilient communities minimize any disasters disruption to everyday life and their local economies. Resilient communities are not only prepared to help prevent or minimize the loss or damage to life, property, and the environment, but they also have the ability to quickly return citizens to work, reopen businesses, and restore other essential services needed for a full and timely economic recovery.Our approach to resilience is based on a simple economic rationale: communities have a quantifiable level of functional capacity. In a crisis situation, that capacity declines at a rate and to a depth that is largely dependent upon the nature of the disruption, the communitys level of preparedness for that specific disruption, and the rapidity and effectiveness of that response. More importantly, the recovery rate depends on those same factors.Resilience means: mitigating and withstanding the stress of manmade and natural disasters recovering in a way that restores normal functioning applying lessons learned from past responses to better withstand future incidents.

1. Build community.Relationships are the foundation of resilient communities. Get to know your neighbors by organizing a potluck, sharing something, or simply stopping by to say hello.2. Grow some of your own food.You can start simple bygrowing in containerson a patio or windowsill or renting a plot in a community garden. Or, if you have access to land,start a gardenor go all out with apermablitz.3. Share and repair.Two simple and rewarding ways to reduce consumption and save money are bysharing thingsyou dont use all the time (vacuum, car, tools, etc.) with friends and neighbors, and by repairing items when they break instead of buying new ones.4. Minimize wasteby purchasing fresh and bulk foods to avoid extra packaging, and start composting organic waste.5. Help keep wealth in your community. Buy local when possible, and considerswitching to a local bank or credit union.6. Reduce home energy useand save money byhanging a clotheslineor conducting ahome energy efficiency audit.7. Conserve water.Fix the leaks, take shorter showers,sheet mulch your lawn, and install agreywaterorrainwater harvestingsystem.8. Green your ride.Walk or get a bicycle, learn how to use public transport, or redesign your routine to minimize your drive.9. Build inner resilience.Cultivate meaningful relationships, practice mindfulness or spend time in nature.10. Join aTransition townorcommunity resilience initiativenear you, and start transforming your community!

______________________________________________________________________________Large malls have agreed agreed to adjust their operating hours to help ease traffic jams in Metro Manila during the holiday season, the metro politan M anila development AUthority (MMDA) said yesterday.MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said it was agreed during yesterdays meeting that the malls will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. except from Dec. 24 to 25 and from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1, 2015, dring which the malls will be given a free hand on their operating hours. Shopping malls are usually open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. They are sometimes open until midnight for certain sales promotions.Tolentino said the increasing number of vehicles around malls contributed to the traffic jams all over the metropolis.He sa id in cities like Bangkok and Singapore, malls have staggered operating hours to minimize traffic congestion in commercial areas.The MMDA chairman hehe said will inform the Philipine National Police on the malls new operating schedules to ensure police visssibility these in areas.

____________________________________________________________________________A magnitude 6.2 earthquake hit Itbayat, Batanes yesterday but state seismologists said there was no report of damage or injury. The tremor o ccurred at 11:29 a.m. with its epi center traced at 214 kilometers southwest of Itbayat.renato rolidum, director of the philippine Institute of volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said there was no threat of tsunami from the quake, but warned the public of possible aftershocks.Phivolcs said the quake was felt at Intensity 3 in Calayan Island.

______________________________________________________________________________At least 20 engineers from the DPWH were sent Bohol to on Thursday to help in the rehhabilitation of infrrastructure destroyed by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in 2013. Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, who who accompanied the DPWH engineers, said the engineer s were tasked to craft project plans and other documents for the immediate approval of the rehabilitation plan of over 1,000 major infrastructure, including town halls, public markets and water supply system. The national government released P2.3 billion for the project.