Regl Gawad KALASAG Awarding Ceremony held in Butuan City

By Jennifer P. Gaitano

Sunday 19th of August 2012

BUTUAN CITY, Aug. 19 (PIA) -- Awardees of this year’s Regional Gawad KALASAG received cash prize and plaque of appreciation on Friday at the Almont Hotel’s Inland Resort here.

The Gawad KALASAG stands for KAlamidad at Sakuna LAbanan SAriling Galing ang Kaligtasan or Fight for Calamity and Accidents, Self Excellence for safety.

The activity is spearheaded by the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) chaired by Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Caraga Regional Director Blanche Gobenciong.

In her speech, Dir. Gobenciong congratulated all the winners and encouraged other schools and LGUs in the region to actively participate and take part in this campaign by establishing their own best practices on DRRM.

For the Highly Urbanized City Category, the local government of Butuan City was awarded as Best City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. City Mayor Ferdinand Amante Jr., received the cash prize of P50,000 with a plaque of appreciation.

Winners for the 1st to 3rd Class Municipalities Category are as follows: 1st Place – MDRRMC Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur; 2nd Place – MDRRMC Esperanza, Agusan del Sur; and 3rd Place – MDRRMC Sibagat, Agusan del Sur. All winners received cash prize with plaque of appreciation.

Mr. Victor Manpatilan of Esperanza, Agusan del Sur received the award as Best in Heroic Act on Humanitarian Assistance.

For Urban Secondary School Category, Agusan National High School of Butuan City awarded the 1st place, and 2nd place to Surigao City National High School in Surigao City, Surigao del Norte.

Two winners from the province of Surigao del Norte were awarded for the Rural Secondary School Category: 1st place – Placer National High School, and 2nd place – Ipil National High School, both in Surigao City.

Surigao City Pilot Central School in Surigao City, province of Surigao ddel Norte was the lone winner for the Urban Complete Elementary School Category.

Also, for the Rural Multi-grade Elementary School Category, the 1st place was awarded to Hinimbangan Elementary School in Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte; and 2nd place to Arturo Borja Elementary School in Surigao City, Surigao del Norte.

Finally, the Mat-I Elementary School in Surigao City, Surigao del Norte was the lone winner for the Rural Complete Elementary School Category.

Along with the awarding of the said winners, government agencies which participated during the month-long celebration of the National Disaster Consciousness Month last July were also given certificate of appreciation.

Meanwhile, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Caraga Regional Dir. Lilibeth Famacion, one of the vice chairpersons of DRRMC cited the importance of being prepared at all times 'since it is the best way to survival in times of disasters'. She also commended the efforts of the LGUs and schools that are constantly practicing DRRM.

Gawad Kalasag is the recognition scheme of OCD in its search for excellence on disaster risk management and humanitarian assistance. It aims to recognize the outstanding performance of Local Disaster Coordinating Centers (LDCC's), private volunteer organizations, non-government organizations, donor agencies, and other stakeholders, in providing humanitarian response and assistance to affected communities. (JPG/PIA-Caraga)