Iloilo City bags highest award for disaster risk reduction anew

Iloilo City has again been conferred with the highest award for disaster risk reduction and management for 2023 by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Given during the recently concluded 23rd Gawad Kalasag Seal for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Councils and Offices, Iloilo City received the highest rating of “Beyond Compliant.”

Beyond Compliant ratings are given to local government units (LGUs) that exceeded the standards for the establishment and functionality of the local DRRM councils and offices, or have the best practices that are beyond the regular DRRM programs.

The southern city maintains its rating after garnering the same award in 2021 and 2022.

“I’m very proud of our disaster risk reduction and management, and our CDRRMO. It’s a great recognition and para sa akon, this is important because we really want to be resilient,” Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said.

As the city envisions to be one of the Top 3 Most Liveable, Sustainable and Resilient Cities in the country by 2028, Treñas emphasized the City Government’s commitment and continuing efforts in terms of DRRM.

Very recently, the City Government together with experts, scientists, practitioners, and policymakers conducted a conference on “Climate Resilience: Prepared and Risk Reduction for Coastal Flooding in Iloilo City”.

“As we strive to make Iloilo City a liveable and resilient place for all through infrastructure projects and transformative programs, we must seriously look into our preparedness against natural calamities and hazards like flooding, typhoon, earthquakes and the like as an equally important undertaking,” the city mayor stressed.

Meanwhile, the establishment of Iloilo City Action and Response (ICARE) Centers in strategic areas across the city is one of the city’s outstanding best practices.

Each ICARE Center, which houses frontline services including the police, CDRRMO, Public Safety and Transportation Management Office, and fire personnel, caters to a certain area of responsibility, which decentralizes the emergency response and makes emergency services closer, more available, and more accessible to people in the community. Its presence is able to cut down response time by an average of 5-8 minutes from 10-15 minutes.

CDRRM Officer Donna Magno recently showcased this city’s best practice in resilient infrastructure during the Kwentong Tagumpay of the Department of the Interior and Local Government on Nov. 15 in Metro Manila.

Participants coming from various local government units in the country were impressed by the initiatives of Iloilo City in ensuring resiliency, livability and sustainability.

Kwentong Tagumpay, themed “Innovative Practices in Local Infrastructure Governance”, provides a unique platform for acquiring insights into the latest technological and practical innovations in local infrastructure governance.

It serves as a conduit for LGUs across the country to both learn from and showcase distinctive and inventive developments in their delivery of essential services to their constituents.

Currently, there are five operational ICARE Centers in Iloilo City.

Three more are undergoing construction and another one already in the planning stage. (Iloilo City PIO)