ILOILO CITY, Aug 5. — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Western Visayas on Friday night recognized the outstanding local government units, groups and institutions that exemplified excellence in disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) and humanitarian assistance through the virtue of the esteemed Gawad KALASAG Award.
KALASAG stands for “Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan, Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan”. This year, OCD-6 is celebrating its 19th Gawad KALASAG Regional Awards.
In his speech, Executive Director of the National DRRM Council and Civil Defense Administrator Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, commended the winners for their “aggressive and active” DRRM performance.
He specifically recognized the exemplary leadership of the local chief executives and DRRM managers for working hard in implementing the DRRM plans and mechanics and for empowering the communities to become disaster resilient.
For the Best Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the province of Capiz landed 1st place; Aklan, 2nd place; and Guimaras, 3rd place. For the Best City DRRMC, Roxas City won first place.
For the Best Municipal DRRMC under the 1st to 3rd Class municipality category, 1st place was the town of Malay in Aklan; 2nd place, Sibalom in Antique; and 3rd place, Sta. Barbara in Iloilo. For the 4th to 6th Class municipality category, 1st place was the town of Malinao in Aklan.
Some Barangay DRRM Committees were also recognized. Under the Urban Barangay category, 1st place was Barangay Semirara, Caluya, Antique while Barangay Sipitan-Badiang, Guimbal, Iloilo for Rural Barangay category.
The Boracay Fire and Rescue Volunteer in the town of Malay, Aklan earned 1st place as Best Volunteer Organization.
For the Best Government Emergency Management Service under the Basic Search and Rescue category, Capiz Emergency Responders Team in the province of Capiz and the Oton Search and Rescue Team in Oton, Iloilo earned 1st place and 2nd place, respectively.
Under the Advance Search and Rescue category, 1st place was the Special Operations Unit of the municipality of Kalibo, Aklan.
For Best School/Public Schools in rural category, 1st place was Villafont Elementary School in Sibalom, Antique while 2nd place was Don Conrado Barrios Elementary School in Roxas City Capiz. In urban category, 1st place was President Manuel Roxas Memorial School in Roxas City, Capiz.
The Sipitan Day Care Center meanwhile, was 1st place under the Best Learning Centers (ELCs).
For the Best Higher Education Institutions, 1st place was Capiz State University in the province of Capiz while 2nd place was St. Gabriel College in Kalibo, Aklan.
For the Best Hospital, 1st place was Panay Health Care Multi-Purpose Cooperative Hospital in Kalibo, Aklan.
Jalad urged the winner to continue their efforts and become effective instruments in DRRM.
“May you become more effective as we are tested by time and various hazards we need to address. May you be relentless in reinventing your strategies so that you will always remain responsive,” he added.
This year’s Gawag Kalasag awarding ceremony was conducted at Smallville 21 Hotel in this city.
The awarding was assisted by Usec. Jalad together with OCD-6 regional director and chairman of the Western Visayas DRRMC Rosario Cabrera and regional directors of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). (Cindy B. Ferrer/PNA)
