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Thursday, November 28, 2013

OCD-9 conducts BICS training to V. Sagun town officials

By Gideon C. Corgue
PAGADIAN CITY – To effectively respond to any disaster, the elective and appointive officials of Vincenzo Sagun town participated in a three-day training on Basic Incident command System (BICS) conducted at Four Queens Resort here on Tuesday by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-9.

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)