ATOK, Benguet – Mayor Franklin Smith lauded the personnel of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and management office (MDRRMO) and the numerous volunteers from the concerned government agencies and barangays as well as the private sector for their unwavering and uncompromising efforts in responding to the wrath of natural and man-made calamities and calls for assistance in the different parts of the municipality.
He claimed that words are not sufficient to express the heartfelt gratitude of the people and officialdom of the municipality to the hardworking and dedicated personnel of the MDRRMO and all the volunteers who always join forces to assist in the opening of closed roads due to soil erosion, help in search and rescue operations for reported missing individuals, assist in the distribution of relief assistance to calamity victims among others that is why the local government is also doing its best to provide the needs of the said office for effective and efficient response.
Further, the local chief executive also hailed the personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and the Atok Municipal Police Station for always being at the forefront in disaster risk reduction and management during the wrath of natural and man-made calamities and calls for emergencies from the people who are exposed to danger in their respective places.
The mayor also expressed the local government’s gratitude to the barangay and private sector volunteers who have been sacrificing their time -, effort and resources in extending assistance to the calamity victims, especially at the height of Supertyphoon Egay and the prevalence of the enhanced southwest monsoon that caused the closure of various national and local road networks leading to the different parts of the municipality.
He commended the personnel of the Department of Public /works and Highways (DPWH) and their partner contractors for ensuring the availability of several units of heavy equipment along the strategic sections of major roads leading to the municipality that cleared the landslides to allow the uninterrupted travel of motorists to their desired destinations in the central Cordillera.
According to him, the personnel of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Municipal Social Welfare and Development office as well as the Department of health, Municipal health office, Atok District hospital, Municipal Engineering office, Municipal Agriculture office among others also did their part in ensuring that whatever concerns of the calamity affected population were given immediate attention, especially in the distribution of relief assistance and the provision of health care to those who were injured.
Mayor Smith rallied concerned residents of the municipality to value the importance of voluntarism so that they will be of help to people who will be in need of their assistance during the onslaught of natural and man-made calamities and emergency situations that may transpire anytime.
Atok is one of the towns in northern Benguet that is traversed by the Baguio-Bontoc-Banaue road. The major economic activity of the people in the town’s various barangays is vegetable farming complimented by agri and ecotourism.
