THE Bacolod City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) will inspect all the resorts in the city Wednesday to ensure the compliance of City Ordinance 749 or the hiring of certified lifeguards in preparation for the observance of the Lenten season next week.
Dondon Parandas, officer-in-charge of DRRMO, said Wednesday, March 20, that resort owners and similar businesses should have certified lifeguards to ensure the safety of resorts and beachgoers.
He added that the Philippine Coast Guard is offering a training for the lifeguards in Negros Occidental.
Parandas noted that after the training course, the lifeguard will receive a certificate for completing life-saving technique training, basic life support cardiopulmonary resuscitation course, water safety course, and water search and rescue course.
It has been observed that during Easter Sunday, several families have an outing in various resorts and beaches in Bacolod.
“Until now, some of the private resorts failed to hire lifeguards and it is now our problem. Every Easter Sunday, we assigned rescue groups to the public beach areas like along Bredco Port, Pta. Taytas as well as the rivers to avoid drowning incidents,” Parandas said.
In 2007 and 2009, five children drowned in two rivers of Bacolod.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia had earlier ordered the CDRRMO to enforce CO 749.
Leonardia said that resorts are good businesses and they can afford to hire lifeguards.
“If they cannot hire lifeguards they have no business operating because a lifeguard is supposed to be a regular fixture of any resort,” he said.