BAGUIO CITY – Six government instrumentalities and civic organizations were adjudged as winners in the 2015 Search for ‘ Gawad KALASAG Awardees’ which is part of the month-long activities lined up by the Cordillera Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) and the Cordillera office of the Civil Defense (OCD-CAR) in celebration of the National Disaster Consciousness Month this July.
KALASAG Stands for Kalamidad at Sakuna Laban, Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan.
The CDRRMC and OCD-CAR, in partnership with concerned government agencies, local governments and stakeholders, are annually recognizing outstanding individuals, groups and institutions and Local Government Units who exemplify excellence on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) and humanitarian assistance thru the virtue of the esteemed Gawad KALASAG Award.
Andrew Alex Uy, OCD-CAR regional director, claimed the annual search for exemplary services in disaster risk reduction and management to achieve sustained commitment and support by distinguishing exceptional aids and accomplishments of DRRM practitioners in helping to uphold the CRDRRMC’s idea of strengthening the disaster resilience and adaptive capacities of nations and communities to disaster risk.
According to him, the program also endeavors to promote the spirit of volunteerism among agencies and individuals to provide much needed assistance during the response phase of DRRM.
As early as April of this year, OCD-CAR already consolidated the entries of different groups in the entire Cordillera. And last May 26, all the six (6) entries underwent the mandatory validation with the help of the assessors from different agencies in the region like the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Department of Education (DepEd), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Philippine Red Cross – Baguio Chapter, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Police Regional Office – Cordillera (PRO-COR) and a private institution which is the IGOROTA Foundation.
Based on the outcome of the validation, the six regional awardees of the coveted ‘Gawad KALASAG’ award are;
Best School- University of the Cordilleras formerly Baguio Colleges Foundation (UC-BCF); Best Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (LDRRMC) for Province Category -Mt. Province; Best LDRRMC for 1st Class Municipality – La Trinidad, Benguet; Best LDRRMC for 4th Class Municipality – Tublay. Benguet; Best Private Group – the Baguio-Benguet Public Information and Civic Action Group (BB-PICAG); and the Best Government Emergency Management (GEM) Group – the Tuba Fire Station under the Bureau of Fire Protection.
The winning entries also underwent field validation from June 7 to 15, 2015 with the same assessors from the desk validation. Scores were tabulated based on the average ratings of both desk and field validation. Based on the result, all of the six eligible regional entries were automatically qualified to compete for national level; that is temporarily scheduled on the first week of August for submission to Central Office of Civil Defense.
Gawad KALASAG winner for three consecutive years shall be given a “Hall of Fame” award. The hall of fame awardees may join the annual search again after three years from the recipient of the said award. Currently, UC-BCF won the award for Best School Category last year and it will be their second time this 2015.
Uy encouraged more Local Government Units, Schools, Private Companies or Groups and other individuals to join for next year’s search; this is for them to have the chance to be recognized and will serve as a best example to other DRRM institutions.
