BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan expressed satisfaction over the readiness of the personnel of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) and the residents living in the city’s 128 barangays during the recent onslaught of Tropical Cyclone Rosita that resulted to minimal damages inflicted on private and public properties in the different parts of the city.
The local chief executive said that based on the CDRRMO report, there were minimal damages inflicted by the weather disturbance to private and public properties and what was important is that there were no casualty that was recorded thereby achieving the government’s goal of zero casualty during the onslaught of natural and man-made calamities.
The CDRRMO reported that the local government was able to open 14 evacuation centers, mostly in barangay halls and multipurpose centers, wherein 13 families composed of 597 individuals were said to have sought refuge considering the implementation of pre-emptive evacuation prior to the wrath of the typhoon in the city.
“We congratulate our people for being vigilant on the effects of the typhoon to life and limb that is why they were able to prepare for the occurrence of any untoward incident that may pose a serious threat to life and limb. We were lucky that the winds and rains of Tropical Storm Rosita were not that strong that is why we were able to achieve minimal damages to public and properties and more importantly, we were able to realize zero casualty,” Domogan stressed.
Among the barangays where re-emptive evacuation was implemented included Guisad Sorong, Sto. Tomas Proper, BGH Compound, Camp 7, Kias, Loakan Proper, Lucnab, Pacdal, Outlookdrive and Dominican-Mirador.
He noted that there were no evacuees that were brought to the city’s main evacuation center in the compound of the City Engineering Office because what were utilized as evacuation centers for those that were subjected to pre-emptive evacuation were the available barangay halls and multipurpose centers as well as a small number of public schools.
Domogan underscored that preparedness is the way to combat the serious negative effects of natural and man-made calamities side from being well informed of what to do and where to go when the calamities strike considering that what is important is for everyone to be spared from whatever injuries to be inflicted by the said disturbances.
He also expressed his gratitude to the volunteer emergency responders for sacrificing part of their precious time in assisting the CDRRMO in responding to calls for help at the height of the onslaught of weather disturbances since their role in emergency response is important in saving lives and properties from being ravaged by natural and man-made calamities.
He thanked personnel of the concerned government offices for making themselves available to help in addressing the needs of the calamity victims, citing that part of the role of government workers in the frontline services is to be always ready to render service for the safety and benefit of everyone.
By Dexter A. See