City conducts seminar-training for disaster-ready barangay officials, PWDs

Twelve barangays in the city are currently undergoing seminars on disaster preparedness to ensure an inclusive barangay-based disability affairs desk.

The Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO) and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) both under the City Mayor’s Office crafted a year-long schedule of seminars for barangay officials, barangay disaster risk reduction management (BDRRM) members, and persons with disability (PWDs) who are residents to the barangays involved. 

Samuel Aquino, officer-in-charge of the PDAO said the 12 barangays were identified based on the intensity of risks to disasters in consideration of PWD needs upon review of their submitted BDRRM plans.

Barangays that have completed their seminar-training are St. Joseph Village, Cabinet Hill-Teachers Camp, Engineer’s Hill, Happy Hallow, Kias, Loakan-Liwanag and Loakan Proper.

The rest of the identified barangays will undergo the seminar-training from June to July as follows: Poliwes, San Vicente, Bakakeng Norte/Sur, Camp 8 and Pinsao Pilot.

Aquino said there are at least 35 participants per schedule among the 12 barangays for a total of 420 individuals who were capacitated on inclusive disaster response for the year.

Speakers per seminar vary depending on the identified risk in the barangay such as on firefighting and basic life support, rescue and retrieval, and first aid response among others.

As of May 30, 2024 there are about 7,500 PWDs in the city per PDAO records on renewed and verified identification cards. 

Most of the PWDs are under the non-apparent type of disability specifically diagnosed by medical experts as psychosocial disability, learning disability, intellectual disability, visual disability, hard of hearing as well as rare and debilitating diseases particularly cancer. – JM Samidan