Mindanaotoday.com | Normin nets 66 Kalasag awards
By: URIEL QUILINGUING
Sixty-six local governments of Northern Mindanao are among the 979 awardees nationwide of the 2023 Gawad Kalasag Seal of Excellence in Disaster Risk Reduction Management and Humanitarian Assistance which is given annually by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
Awarding rites are set on Friday, December 1, at the Oriental Hotel, Tagsan, Legaspi City.
OCD Director for Northern Mindanao Antonio Sugarol, in an online post, said on Monday, November 27, they recommended 66 local governments for the National Evaluation Committee for this year’s Gawad Kalasag and all made it.
Started by OCD in 1998, Kalasag means “shield” in Tagalog word. In this case, the word has a different meaning because the letters were taken from “Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan, Sariling Galing ay Kaligtasan.”
This year’s 66 is an improvement of last year’s 42 local governments in Northern Mindanao that were commended by the OCD for being “beyond compliant” and “fully compliant” in four thematic areas of prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response, and rehabilitation and recovery.
Sixteen have been adjudged “beyond compliant” and 50 as “fully compliant,” all having demonstrated effectiveness and innovation in disaster risk reduction and management, generated community participation and ensured sustainability and replicability.
For the first time, Cagayan de Oro, the region’s capital city, and Misamis Oriental’s El Salvador City, are among the “beyond compliant” local governments. They join back-to-back “beyond compliant” recipient Valencia City of Bukidnon, among the nine cities in Northern Mindanao.
Last year, Cagayan de Oro was a recipient of the “fully compliant” commendation and has been a consistent regional awardee.
Other recipients of “beyond compliant” Gawad Kalasag awards are Impasugong, Kalilangan, Pangantucan, and San Fernando of Bukidnon; Bacolod, Kapatagan, Matungao, Tubod, and Sultan Naga Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte; Mambajao and Sagay of Camiguin; and Villanueva of Misamis Oriental.
Of the five provincial governments in the region, only Lanao del Norte was evaluated to be “beyond compliant” and is one of the 33 provinces to have achieved such.
The provincial governments of Bukidnon, Camiguin, and Misamis Occidental, however, are also Gawad Kalasag awardees as “fully complaint” while the cities of Gingoog in Misamis Oriental, Malaybalay in Bukidnon, and Oroquieta of Misamis Occidental also have the same commendations.
Fully compliant municipalities are: Cabanglasan, Dangcagan, Don Carlos, Kalilangan, Kibawe, Kitaotao, Lantapan, Libona, Malitbog, Manolo Fortich, Maramag, Quezon, and Sumilao of Bukidnon; Catarman, Guinsiliban, and Mahinog of Camiguin; Kolambogan, Lala, Magsaysay, Maigo, and Sapad of Lanao del Norte; Aloran, Calamba, Concepcion, Don Victoriano, Jimenez, Lopez Jaena, Panaon, Plaridel, Sinacaban, and Tudela of Misamis Occidental.
The annual recognition from the OCD is in line with Republic Act No. 10121, the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010. It provides for a comprehensive, all-hazard, multi-sectoral, inter-agency, and community-based approach to disaster risk management through the formulation of the National Disaster Risk Management Framework.
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