The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) inaugurated its new administration building at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Tuesday, June 14.

The OCD’s new administration building is a seven-storey facility that was built by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) through the Project TIKAS (Tatag ng Imprastraktura para sa Kapayapaan at Seguridad).

OCD Administration Ricardo Jalad said the new facility symbolizes the agency’s “effort to strengthen internal capacity and delivery of services to the public in the field of disaster risk reduction and management and civil defense.”

“As we continue to move forward to become a world-class disaster management agency, President Rodrigo Duterte appreciated and saw the importance of upgrading OCD’s facilities and infrastructure. Through his support, and as part of his administration’s Build, Build, Build program, the construction of the new building was made possible.” he said.

“The construction of the building was no easy task. It had to go through rigorous processes of quality checking to ensure the resiliency of the structure. The pandemic also made a dent in the construction schedule. And now, after almost three years, we are here standing in front of the completed new seven-storey administration building of the Office of Civil Defense.” he added.

The inauguration ceremony was graced by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Chairperson and Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana as Guest of Honor.

In his speech, Sec. Lorenzana congratulated and thanked OCD for its work in disaster management.

“Built under the DND-DPWH TIKAS convergence program, the seven-storey building will cater to the growing demands of the OCD to do its mandate for HADR and other resilience programs during calamities,” Lorenzana said.

“Its state-of-the-art facilities will connect OCD directly with local government units, making services more proactive, coordinated and efficient,” he added.