By Gideon C. Corgue
Mayor Merlinda Maata said “there
is an urgent need for the municipality to undergo BICS training as the municipality
had experienced natural disasters caused by climate change.”
Mayor Maata underscored
the need to equip the municipal officials with the knowledge and skills in
preparing for and responding to any disaster so as to mitigate its impact on
the people.
Recently landslides
occurred in barangay Nilugwayan and Maraya, the mayor said.
“During typhoons, we
closely monitor the coastal areas. Like what happened last Nov. 8 when super
typhoon Yolanda hit the Visayas region and caused tremendous losses of lives
and properties, we urged our people to leave their homes and transfer to the evacuation
center to protect them against any untoward incident.
Engr. Angelito Casinillo,
OCD training officer, said the training which employs modules, is an effective
tool for the stakeholders to respond in times of disaster. “The participants
are taught the effective utilization of resources and use of reliable
communication system during disasters,”
Casinillo explained.
OCD-9 Regional Director
Adriano Fuego lauded the town officials for their initiative in having such a
training saying that “it is the first time that a municipality in the province has
requested his office to hold BICS training for its officials with the
municipality itself funding the activity.”
“Before, the training would
be conducted in a cluster basis where one cluster was composed of three
municipalities, and the logistics were all shouldered by the OCD,” Fuego added.
Fuego encouraged other
municipal officials in Zamboanga Peninsula to emulate what the town officials of
Vincenzo Sagun did to help the national government in disaster preparedness. (PIA9)