LEGAZPI CITY — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) regional office in Bicol recognized the role of the community in disaster resiliency efforts, through a unity fun run held here on Monday as part of the observance of the National Disaster Resiliency Month.
The three-kilometer fun run dubbed “Fun Run for Resilience: NDRM 2018″ at Legazpi City Boulevard was led by OCD Regional Director Claudio Yucot and Mayor Noel Rosal. Close to 500 people from the coastal villages of Dapdap and Puro participated in the event.
Yucot said through the unity fun run, the people of Legazpi showed their collective cooperation and readiness on disaster risk reduction and resiliency.
“If the basis for disaster preparedness to lessen the risk is the unity fun run, you’ve showcased the exemplary unity to mitigate the risk. This is a good example of unity and public awareness. We will achieve the zero casualty goals in times of natural calamity through your cooperation and readiness,” Yucot said.
The OCD chief rang a bell as he cited the importance of unity, cooperation and readiness among the people in times of disaster to attain the zero casualty goal of the government. He said no single precious life must be lost during typhoons and other calamitous events in the countryside.
“We don’t know when disaster, specifically stronger typhoons will strike but it’s better for us to be always ready. Though the people of Bicol are tested for being disaster resilient, we need to check our readiness at all times,” he also said in an interview.
Mayor Rosal said the Legazpi people’s readiness and resiliency have been proven, and the city would always rise from natural disasters.
“Our readiness and capacity to rise up after the occurrence of super typhoons Milenyo and Reming have proven our resiliency. Legazpi City is now the country’s rising and model city after Milenyo and Reming. Big businesses and investments are coming in to Legazpi because of our resiliency and readiness,” he said.
“The cooperation of the people from the barangays is very critical in times of disaster. We need to work together and be ready at all times to lessen the risk and mitigate the impact of natural calamities. Because of good partnership from community, government agencies and disaster officials, Legazpi City is now one of the top five rising cities in the country,” the mayor added.
The Run for Resilience was spearheaded by the OCD Bicol and Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management member-agencies in the city.
Those who participated were from the local community, national government agencies, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection; OCD; Legazpi City and provincial government of Albay. (Rhaydz Barcia/PNA)
