Monday, December 16, 2013

Davao Oriental bags 5th Regional Gawad Kalasag Award

DAVAO ORIENTAL, December 16 (PIA) —For the fifth consecutive year, the Province of Davao Oriental was conferred with the Gawad Kalasag Award for being the region’s Best Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

The prestigious accolade was handed over by the Office of Civil Defense Regional Director, Ret. BGen Loreto G. Rirao to no less than Davao Oriental’s chief executive Gov. Corazon N. Malanyaon on Thursday, Dec. 12, during the OCD’s 15th Gawad Kalasag Awarding Ceremony at the Apo View Hotel in Davao City.

“This is a great honor for us to have our efforts of preparing for probable disaster and reducing potential risk acknowledged in the region,” said Gov. Malanyaon.

During her speech, she bared that behind the coveted award was the painstaking planning strategies and the sacrifices of people who responded to disasters, especially during the typhoon Pablo, which challenged Davao Oriental’s already established elite disaster response.

Gov. Malanyaon underscored the important role ‘preparedness’ has played for the fast and seamless disaster response. She recalled that days before typhoon Pablo, several teams from the province were deployed to conduct massive evacuation especially for those living in the hazard zones. While food packs were prepared ready for distribution, heavy machineries were also pre-positioned, anticipating slashing winds to topple electric posts and trees which may block roadways.

The province also leveraged on important structures that placed order and direction into its actions through mobilization of a Central Incident Command Post (CICP) at the provincial level, which served as the center for coordination, information and communication for all emergency relief operations, while counterpart Incident Command Posts (ICP) in the three municipalities were also established and mobilized to quickly reach far-flung barangays and sitios.

“Indeed, the Command Posts that were operationalized were instrumental in ensuring that timely and relevant information were gathered, urgent concerns were addressed, emergency reliefs were dispatched with exigency,   security and order were maintained”.

Climate Change Adaptation
Meanwhile, as part of the disaster mitigation strategies, climate change adaptation is also becoming a crucial area of concern for the province, especially now that is already part of the typhoon belt.

“We cannot control nature, but we can regulate the activities of our people and direct utilization of our resources so as to mitigate, if not control the possible disastrous effects of natural forces. This is through our preparedness plans,” she said.

As a result, the province in collaboration with partner agencies has agreed to integrate Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (DRRCCA) in the Local Development Planning, which elicited the updating of the Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plan that involved land use modification, data updating, and re-zonification.

And as its firm commitment, the province is helping municipal LGUs to chart out their respective Municipal Comprehensive Land Use Plan while mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation measures in their respective development plans.

Other projects that the provincial government is embarking on to restore the province’s environmental resources are mangrove rehabilitation, coastal cleanup, solid-waste management, dumpsite development and watershed rehabilitation.

Governor Malanyaon said that in retrospection with the province’s typhoon Pablo experience, from preparation to the emergency response to early recovery and now on its rehabilitation undertakings that it had honed the province to be doubly mindful for the things to be considered in crafting preparation strategies to meet the challenges of emergent extreme weather events such as super typhoon bringing havoc to localities in its path. <By Karen Lou Deloso, , PIO>

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