Philippines: National Disaster Consciousness month announced for July

Source(s): Philippine Information Agency

Philippines Information Agency press release by Jennifer P. Gaitano

Butuan City – The observance of the National Disaster Consciousness Month in July takes on a new meaning as stakeholders, government,and local government units see the bigger picture with climate change in the picture. In July, the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) Technical Working Group led by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Caraga have planned a set of activities for said month.

As part of advocacy, RDRRMC encourages all agencies, offices to display streamers of the said observance while a simultaneous earthquake drill will also be conducted in Surigao City.

Also, on June 29, a press conference will be conducted with the panel of discussants coming from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and OCD, among others.

The observance of the NDCM 2011 will kick-off with a thanksgiving mass to be followed with a fire suppression drill at the PNP-Caraga regional office.

DOH-Caraga also proposed to have an earthquake drill in the first week of July while DOST will spearhead the Disaster Preparedness Forum to be held at the Caraga State University (CSU) Gymnasium with students as participants. DOH and Department of Agriculture (DA) also proposed to conduct a medical mission and mass feeding.

Also, TWG planned to have a two-day Doppler-Radar Orientation at Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur for them to have a wider knowledge on how to run the said equipment.

Meanwhile, aside from the proposed activities for the NDCM, TWG also assessed the compliance of the different local government units in the region in the submission of their accomplishments report for 2010 on DRR-CCA/DRRM focusing on Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Rehabilitation as basis for the selection of the regional nominees for the annual Search for Gawad KALASAG (Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan, Sariling Galing and Kaligtasan).

According to Loraine Catedral of OCD-Caraga, Kalasag is the Filipino term for "shield" used by early Filipinos as a means of protection from attacks of enemies or harmful animals.

In connection with this, Gawad KALASAG was conceived to protect or shield high risk communities against hazards by encouraging the participation of various stakeholders in designing and implementing Disaster Risk Management (DRM) programs.

The KALASAG Awarding ceremony will be held on July 28, 2011. (JPG-PIA 13,Caraga)

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