The Caloocan City government on Wednesday, Nov. 29, announced that it was cited by the Office of Civil Defense - National Disaster Risk Reduction (OCD-NDRRMC) for its exemplary disaster response to ensure the safety of the residents during calamities.
OCD-NDRRMC recognized the city government's
Caloocan Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) with the "Beyond Compliant" rating in its 23rd Gawad Kalasag Awards where disaster risk reduction initiatives of local government units (LGUs) were acknowledged by the national agency.
According to the local government, its disaster initiatives were tagged as "beyond compliant, (which is an upgrade from last year’s “fully compliant” rating) due to the CDRRMO’s excellent implementation of the four pillars of DRRM - preparedness, response, prevention and mitigation, and rehabilitation and recovery.
The Gawad Kalasag is a recognition and award scheme for LGU's for their exemplary programs for disaster risk reduction and management, climate change adaptation, and humanitarian assistance that protect high risk communities against extreme hazards
It serves as a mechanism to obtain sustained commitment and support to the contributions of DRRM practitioners in enhancing resilience and adaptive capacities of the society and communities to disaster risks.
The local government units who garnered 2.5 to 3.0 rating in the agency's mandatory assessment were tagged as “Beyond Compliant,” while those with 1.5 to 2.49 rating were “fully compliant."
The list of the 979 LGUs in the country recognized by the OCD-NDRRMC for its 23rd Gawad Kalasag Awards was posted on its Facebook page on Nov. 27.
Caloocan City Mayor Dale Gonzalo “Along” Malapitan praised the efforts of the CDRRMO saying that disaster and emergency response has been one of his top priorities since coming into office due to the city being one of the disaster-prone areas in the region.
“Malugod ko pong binabati ang CDRRMO para sa pagkilalang muli nilang natanggap mula sa NDRRMC. Sana ay ipagpatuloy niyo pa ang mahusay na pagtupad sa inyong mga mandati at responsibilidad para sa kapakanan ng lahat ng mga Batang Kankaloo ( I heartily congratulate the CDRRMO for the recognition they once again received from the NDRRMC. I hope you will continue to fulfill your mandates and responsibilities well for the welfare of all the Batang Kankaloo),” he said.
“Mula pa po noong panahon ng kampanya, ipinangako ko na na gagawin natin ang Caloocan bilang isa sa mga may pinakamahusay na DRRM programs sa buong bansa, kaya naman natutuwa po ako kapag nakikita na nagbubunga ang lahat ng ating mga ginagawa (Since the campaign period, I have promised that we will make Caloocan one of the cities with the best DRRM programs in the country, so I am happy to see that all our efforts are bearing fruit)," the mayor added.
CDRRMO Officer-in-Charge Dr. James Lao thanked Malapitan for fully supporting the office’s projects.
“Makakaasa po ang ating mga kababayan na tuloy-tuloy ang pagpapaunlad natin sa mga programa kontra sakuna para na rin po sa kaligtasan at kapanatagan ng lahat ( Our people can hope that we will continue to develop disaster response programs for the safety and security of all),” Lao said.
Other Metro Manila cities tagged with the "beyond complaint" rating were Makati, Muntinlupa, Malabon, Parañaque, Mandaluyong, Pasi, Navotas, and Quezon.