Cordi LGUs pass disaster preparedness assessment

By Carlito C. Dar

BAGUIO CITY - - The Department of Interior and local Government disclosed 12 local government units in Cordillera have passed the initial or level 1 assessment for the national government’s Seal of Disaster Preparedness.

DILG Cordillera regional director John Castañeda  identified these as  the provincial LGUs of Apayao, Benguet, Mountain Province, and Kalinga;  the municipalities of Bangued, Lagangilang, Sallapadan in Abra, Pudtol and Flora in Apayao; La Trinidad in  Benguet, and Bontoc in Mountain Province, and the  component city of Tabuk in Kalinga.

The level 1 assessment includes leadership structure, guide to action, disaster preparedness, partnership, volunteerism and innovation.

Those who pass the initial assessment are up for level 2 at the national level, which will include actual disaster scenario to include an LGU’s search and rescue and evacuation center management.

The Seal is conferred to a local government which demonstrates acceptable level of disaster preparedness and disaster preparedness response before and during calamities, as an official symbol of excellence.

Aside from giving recognition and incentives to LGU’s performance in institutionalizing disaster preparedness, the SDP also aims to assess performance gaps, provide policy or program intervention base on the identified gaps, and monitor performance progress.

The SDP, along with the Seal of Good Housekeeping, are among the  good governance programs of  the  late DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo for LGUs, in line with President Benigno Aquino III’s  policy of “Tuwid na Daan.”