BONTOC, Mountain Province – The Bontoc Local Government Unit (LGU) thru the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) in partnership with the Bontoc Municipal Fire Station have intensified the Education and Communications (IEC) campaign on Basic Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, and Fire Prevention and Safety scheduled on June 1-30, 2021,
With this, personnel from the MDRRMO and Bontoc MFS have been going around the Barangays of Bontoc to cater to the vulnerable sectors of the community to include pregnant women and Persons with disabilities (PWDs) or special needs.
The activity aims to educate the vulnerable group on basic DRRM concepts particularly on their role in the following phases of DRRM: prevention and mitigation, preparedness and response phases, and as well as fire prevention and safety tips.
The month-long activity kicked off at barangay Bayyo, Bontoc, Mountain Province on June 1, 2021. To date, barangays along the riverside (Bayyo, Caneo, Talubin, and Tocucan), two central barangays, and AlBaGo have successfully been conducted the IEC activity.
Different topics were discussed with the participants, namely the basic concept of the DRRM focusing on the activities in each thematic area of the DRRM (Prevention and Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Rehabilitation and Recovery). The roles of the vulnerable groups were emphasized during the discussion. Moreover, the importance of a family evacuation plan, and go bags in each individual/family was also given emphasis.
On fire matters, basic classifications of fire, as well as its countermeasures in cases of fire emergencies were discussed. Difference response mechanisms during fire and earthquake emergencies were demonstrated and discussed comprehensively with the participants.
Also, a representative from the Department of Health under the Nurse Deployment Program joined the team in some of the barangays. His lecture includes Dengue Awareness and Prevention. He briefly discussed the 4S on the Dengue campaign. Secondly, he briefly gave an overview of the Covid-19 vaccination, its importance/benefits when an individual is to be vaccinated. Queries from the participants about the COVID-29 vaccination rollout of the government were answered.
As a form of evaluation from the participants, most of the barangays came up with unique and creative song compositions in the vernacular language. The lyrics of the song portray the preparedness measures of each of the vulnerable groups when an emergency or untoward eventuality strikes such as landslides, typhoons, fire and earthquake.
Present to assist in the activity are the respective barangay officials, Rural Health Midwives, and Barangay Health Workers (BHWs).
The activity is part of the National Disaster Resilience Month which is observed July of every year. By Meilynne Shalom A. Ayan
