QUEZON City has won this year’s Gawad Kalasag-National Capital Region competition for the second year as it challenges to exceed its present status, make the Hall of Fame and take the national title in 2018.
“We take the challenge to break the hairline and take the national award, hopefully next year. That places the Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in a spot that whether they like it or not, we need to get the award for first place next year. That is the challenge,” Quezon City Administrator Aldrin Cuña said.
Cuña made the speech on behalf of Mayor Herbert Bautista after Quezon City dominated this year’s NCR leg of the Gawad Kalasag.
Quezon City was adjudged the Best City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in the highly urbanized city category, which automatically makes the city as the National Capital Region’s representative in the Gawad Kalasag national-level competition.
“We will prepare again next year for the national award, for the regional we have to maintain our ranking, our leadership in the region. Next year, we get the hall of fame,” Cuña said.
Gawad Kalasag—an acronym for “Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan” (Fighting Calamities and Disasters, Safety Through Personal Skills)—is an annual award given by the Office of Civil Defense since 1998.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) through the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) utilizes the Gawad Kalasag to obtain continuous commitment and support of DRRM practitioners in strengthening the resilience and capacities of communities and regions to disaster risks.
Quezon City under the administration of Bautista, has invested heavily on state-of-the art equipment and technologies needed to beef up the city’s effort to promote human security and the strengthening the city’s coping capabilities and resiliency, especially in times of calamities.
“For nine years, we have been working feverishly to put up a state-of-the-art emergency operations center that beats all other best practices we have seen in other command centers,” Cuña said.
Quezon City Rescue also bagged the second place in the Best Government Emergency Management Services while Melencio M. Castelo Elementary School was awarded first place in best public school in DRRM in urban category.
The National Children’s Hospital, also a Quezon City-based institution, clinched the best hospital in DRRM in specialty hospital category. The Barangay Sto. Cristo in Quezon City clinched the Best Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee (Urban-Barangay Category).
“Ever since Mayor Herbert Bautista came in to office, the disaster risk reduction, environment protection, and sustainability development have been a landmark foundation of his governance advocacy in Quezon City being the biggest LGU in the region. We are able to sustain the march of the city towards progress and development,” Cuña said.