THE OFFICE of the Civil Defense (OCD) XI said that all Davao Region residents must be disaster-resilient “either individually or at the household level.”
OCD XI regional director Ednar Dayanghirang said on Monday that their office is severely undermanned to serve all five provinces and one component city in the region.
“Five million ka tao, in the office, thirty persons lang mi. That’s why it’s good that under the law, the Republic Act 10121, daghan mi’g partners. All the local government units, 54 of them, are partners of the OCD-XI,” he said.
He said they will continue to engage with different stakeholders, the Indigenous Peoples (IP), the academic sector, the business sector, the Muslim communities, and the security sector to guide them in developing a response mechanism against calamities.
Dayanghirang also urged each household to prepare a Go Bag containing all the necessary items to help them survive a disaster.
“We want to promote the idea that they should have a Go bag, not just to help or support you after an incident, but the concept of resiliency should be in each and every family,” he said.
According to the OCD XI, the Go Bag should contain the following items:
- Waterproofed documents
- Flashlight, match candles
- Whistle
- Radio with fresh batteries
- First aid kit
- Spare cash
- Food for three days
- Drinking water
- Mobile phones, power banks, chargers
- Sanitary supplies
- Hygiene kit
- Extra clothes
- Blankets, sleeping bag
He also stressed that the local government units should continue to allocate 5% of their disaster funds to further prepare, prevent, mitigate, and train people to be disaster-resilient.
“It is not us, the government, to measure, kung prepared ba ta or not, our task is to make them aware, prepare, and understand disaster-resiliency,” he added.
