CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- To address the immediate provision and availability of rescue equipment and vehicles during calamities, the local government of San Fernando entered into an agreement with common carriers during the launching of National Disaster Consciousness Month on Tuesday.
The signing of the agreement was led by Mayor Edwin Santiago and representatives from Victory Liner Incorporated, Genesis Transport Company Incorporated, and Bataan Transit Incorporated.
The agreement states the free use of the latter’s emergency response vehicles, wrecker (tow truck), rescue or heavy equipment, and buses for disaster management purpose up to the duration of the calamity. It also allows buses to carry big number of passengers in case of evacuation.
Other activities lined up for this month includes the national disaster consciousness month preparedness assembly and city/village Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council assembly on June 30.
The Gawad Kalasag 2016 Awarding ceremonies will be on July 3 while the water search and rescue simulation exercise will be held on July 4 to 7.
To provide relevant disaster preparedness information, there will also be a Sining Kahandaan: School-Based Disaster Preparedness Poster Making Contest on July 11 and Safru Emergency Response Capability and Disaster Preparedness orientation for schools and barangays on July 12 to 14.
From July 16 to 26, a collapsed structure search and rescue training of trainers will be held to improve the readiness and agility of the emergency teams.
Everyone is invited to join this year’s San Fernando Rescue Unit Disaster Preparedness Run on July 30.
On August 4, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office will conduct the second CSFP Community Disaster Volunteers Capability Assessment.
To prepare everyone in times of calamities and disasters, there will be a CSFP Earthquake and Fire Drill on August 11 to be followed by an Earthquake Resiliency forum on August 17 to 18.
In his speech, Mayor Santiago encouraged everyone to cooperate in the different activities aimed at building a disaster-resilient community.
“We must get involved with these kinds of activities to develop our disaster preparedness skills. Disasters can happen any time that may affect us in many ways. It is really important that we should be knowledgeable and ready to face it,” he added. (PR)