Difference between revisions of "Southern Leyte Province, Philippines"

'''St. Bernard MDRRMC vies for regional Gawad Kalasag award'''

*Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=7&r=r08&id=53070

*Thursday, September 08, 2011

by ES Gorne

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte, Sept. 8 (PIA) -- The St. Bernard Municipal Risk Reduction Management Council (MDRRMC) will undergo validation being one of the nominees in the Gawad Kalasag award for its best practices particularly in forewarning the local communities in times of disaster through the maximize use of Early Warning System (EWS). According to Cherelyn Lubang, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) representative during the Southern Leyte PDRRMC meeting held recently, announced that a team representing the national offices of OCD, DSWD and DILG will validate the St. Bernard MDRRMC this week. Lubang further said that St. Bernard MDRRMC has adopted effectively the early warning system with the recent heavy rains experienced in the municipality that induced flashfloods and floodings and saved the lives of the communities and eventually arrived with zero casualty. St. Bernard MDRRMC also has been identified by some foreign assisted non-government organizations (NGOs) such as CARE –ACCORD, among others for its effective use of early warning system which has saved lives and some properties of the victims since they were already evacuated before the any calamity strikes. CARE ACCORD Project, a pilot project on disaster preparedness and mitigation, covers only 5 out of the 30 barangays, to address concerns at disaster hazard areas in St. Bernard, it was learned. Gawad Kalasag promotes the Filipino inherent spirit of bayanihan, volunteerism and spontaneous cooperation in times of major problems like responding to disasters and emergencies. Meanwhile, PDRRMC wanted to include the purchase of rubber boats in the Disaster Annual Investment Plan for next year. The local disaster council also would like to purchase and install VHF radio repeaters for Limasawa Island and Pacific Towns areas in the said disaster investment plan.### (PIA SoLeyte/esg)