TACLOBAN CITY – Thirty local government units in Eastern Visayas were recognized in the 2023 Gawad Kalasag Seal of Excellence Award in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and Humanitarian Assistance-Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils and Offices (LDRRMCO) on
Wednesday, December 20.
Gawad KALASAG (KAlamidad at Sakuna LAbanan, SAriling Galing ang Kaligtasan) is an annual recognition conceived in 1998.
It aims to promote and implement DRRM, climate change adaptation, and humanitarian assistance programs “to protect high-risk communities against extreme hazards and capacitate them to address their vulnerabilities.”
Awardees – 26 municipalities, two cities, and two provinces in Eastern Visayas – were deemed
"beyond and fully compliant" and would be prioritized for future funding assistance for DRRM projects.
The municipalities of Can-avid in Eastern Samar, Catarman in Northern Samar, and the province of Southern Leyte were recognized as "beyond compliant."
The towns of Arteche, Balangiga, General MacArthur, Guiuan, and Maydolong in Eastern Samar; Tabango, Ormoc City, and San Miguel in Leyte; Gamay, Laoang, Lope de Vega, Palapag, San Antonio, and San Roque in Northern Samar; Marabut and Tarangnan in Samar; and Bontoc, Liloan, Limasawa, Maasin City, Macrohon, Padre Burgos, Pintuyan, Silago, Sogod, and Hinundayan in Southern Leyte were cited as "fully compliant."
The provincial government of Northern Samar was awarded as "fully compliant" for the third time.
The province was first recognized by the National Disaster Risk Reduction Council (NDRRMC) and the Regional DRRMC in 2021 and in 2022 for its continuous efforts to attain risk resilience.
Gov. Edwin Ongchuan thanked their partners, the PDRRM Council members from different line agencies, local government units, and non-government organizations for their continuing support and cooperation in the province's concerted efforts to attain risk resilience.