[MTE] [Oct 2025] [P1] Collaborative Resilience: Building Area-wide Business Continuity Frameworks

Part 1: Strength in Collaboration – The Philippine Model for Business Continuity and Disaster Resilience

Introduction

When disaster strikes the Philippines, the private sector plays a central role in response and recovery. Veronica Gabaldon, Executive Director of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), shared how the organization has become a public-private partnership model for disaster risk reduction and business continuity.

Founded in 2009 after a major typhoon, PDRF is a private-sector-led, non-profit organization that coordinates preparedness, response, and recovery efforts across industries. Through its cluster system, PDRF groups member companies by their core competencies — from infrastructure, logistics, telecoms, and utilities to finance and healthcare — creating a robust coordination mechanism that works seamlessly with government and humanitarian systems.

At the heart of PDRF’s operations is HANDA, an ArcGIS-based monitoring and incident management platform that integrates hazard data from multiple government sources. This tool allows businesses to overlay their facilities and employee locations with real-time hazard information, supporting rapid decision-making during crises.

Beyond emergencies, PDRF focuses on capacity building. Through its Business Continuity and Organizational Resilience program, it helps both large corporations and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) strengthen their continuity capabilities. Recognizing that 99% of Philippine businesses are SMEs, PDRF simplified the traditional BCP process into accessible, 6–10-step frameworks, published in local dialects and distributed through guidebooks and toolkits.

In partnership with the government, PDRF also co-developed the Public Service Continuity Plan (PSCP) — a government-wide framework to ensure that essential services remain functional during disasters. A national memorandum has since mandated all agencies to create their PSCPs, a major step toward institutionalizing resilience.

“Resilience is no longer an option,” Gabaldon emphasized. “It’s an imperative — and it must be ecosystem-wide.”

Through these initiatives, PDRF has fostered what Gabaldon calls a “resilient ecosystem” — where business, government, and communities collectively anticipate, withstand, and adapt to disruptions.

Summing Up Part 1 – Key Points

Focuses on PDRF’s organizational model, collaboration mechanisms, and national-level initiatives.

Dr Goh Moh Heng, President of BCM Institute, summarises this webinar. If you have any questions, please speak to the author.

Summing Up for Parts 1 & 2 ...

Click the icon below to continue reading parts of Veronica Gabaldon's presentation. 

 

Collaborative Resilience: Building Area-wide Business Continuity Frameworks

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