TRECE MARTIRES CITY, Cavite – Cavite’s industrial town of Carmona romped off with the Calabarzon region’s Best Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (1st - 3rd Class town category) of this year’s Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-RDRRMC’s “Gawad Kalasag” (GK) Awards winners.
OCD Region IV-A Director Olivia M. Luces, also Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (RDRRMC) IV-A chair, bared the list of winners Thursday with Mulanay, Quezon coming in at second place and Kalayaan, Laguna (3rd) in the same category.
Carmona Mayor Dahlia A. Loyola took pride for her town in making it to the top in the list of regional winners, where Carmona also placed 2nd in the Best Local Government Emergency Managers for its MDRRM Office.
According to Luces, the OCD as the implementing arm of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), recognizes the outstanding contributions of local government units (LGUs) in the fields of disaster risk reduction and management and humanitarian assistance through its “Gawad Kalasag” Search.
Dubbed as the country’s premiere annual awards, it is the government’s principal mechanism by which the national and regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Councils (NDRRMCs) advance awareness of the best practices of Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) and humanitarian response and action.
She said that of the 78 entries received by the Calabarzon Region’s Selection Committee, only 31 winners passed for validation.
Laguna’s PDRRM Council was hailed as the Best Provincial DRRMC, followed by Batangas (2nd) and Quezon (3rd) provinces.
For the Best City DRRMC (Component City) category, the DRRMC of Batangas City occupied the top spot, followed by Bacoor City and Antipolo City, for the 2nd and 3rd places respectively.
Barangay Sampaloc of Pagsanjan, Laguna was the sole winner in the best barangay DRRMC for the urban sector, while Dingin Barangay DRRMC is the best barangay for the rural sector, both from Pagsanjan, Laguna.
The GK Award, now on its 20th year, also recognizes Educational Institutions, divided into higher education, high school, elementary and leaning center categories.
For the Region’s Higher Education Institution, Batangas State University was hailed as the Regional Winner, followed by Southern Luzon State University (2nd).
Tanay National High School (Division of Rizal) is the Regional winner for Best Secondary School (Public), with Imus NHS (Division of Imus City) landing 2nd, and Maabut NHS (Division of Batangas) got the 3rd spot.
Best Elementary School (Public) includes Niogan ES (Division of Rizal) as Regional Winner, Balayan East Central School (Division of Batangas) – 2ndand Inicbulan ES (Division of Batangas) – 3rd; and the Best Learning Center awards go to San Isidro Day Care Center (Batangas City, Regional Winner), San Isidro Day Care Center (Pagsanjan, Laguna – 2nd) and Dingin Day Care Center (Pagsanjan, Laguna – 3rd).
Gawad Kalasag also recognizes volunteer groups, where Tanay Mountaineers, Inc. was hailed as the Regional winner in this category; while Infanta Group of Fishermen, General Nakar MRDDMO and Biga Bayanihan Response Group were cited as Regional Winner, 2nd place and 3rd place respectively in the Heroic Act (Group) category.
A special recognition (group) was given to Team SIGAW (Batangas State University); while Pagsanjan MDRRMO landed as Regional Winner under the Best Local Government Emergency Managers, with Carmona as 2nd and Imus City DRRMO on 3rd.
These Regional Winners will be the official entries of the Calabarzon region, covering the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Batangas and Quezon to the National GK search. (PNA)
