Ilocos Sur LDRRMO conducts benchmarking venture in Davao City

A total of 28 officials from the League of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officers (LDRRMO) of Ilocos Sur recently conducted a benchmarking activity to learn Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) best practices on November 20 at the Public Safety and Security Office (PSSO).

In a letter addressed to Davao City Mayor Sebastian Z. Duterte, Engr. Michael B. Padayao, LDRRMO Municipal Government Department head, stressed the need of the Province of Ilocos Sur to learn further Davao City’s effective approaches in terms of disaster risk reduction and management as well as climate change adaptation (CCA), with its focus on the city’s Central 911 services.

“We believe that this activity is a significant step that would foster our knowledge management and common growing responsibilities for the efficient and effective implementation of DRRM-CCA,” Engr. Padayao stated.

During their visit, a presentation was managed by CDRRMO officers, led by Chrison John Bandol, Personnel Development Assistant from the Operations and Warning Division, discussing the city’s early warning systems, approaches on training and exercises, operations and warning, planning and research, and emphasis on evacuation planning towards crucial areas.

Mr. Bandol said during its presentation that as an essential component of city governance, as evidenced by the city’s recent disasters which resulted in zero casualties, Davao City has demonstrated its ability to bring early warning to the community level by providing the public with relevant information, thereby saving lives and property.  

“The Davao City DRRMO envisions a harmonious city that is resilient to both natural and human-caused disasters. This office’s proactive stance and efforts empower communities by strengthening collective disaster risk reduction and management capabilities,” he added.

He also discussed the city’s visual, river and coastal monitoring systems, the outdoor mass notification systems, among others. 

The delegation also had the opportunity to explore and see up close and personal the various advance equipment and rescue operation vehicles from the Emergency Division, the Davao Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), and from the fire department. 

Ilocos Sur, particularly the municipality of Tagudin has established close ties with Davao City, being its sister city/municipality effective June 23, 2021. 

The province of Ilocos Sur, is known for its main industries in farming, fishing, rice cake, delicacy making, vinegar and basi-making, abel-cloth making, and processed calamansi production. Other fields of collaboration include trade and commerce, agriculture, tourism, and the arts and culture.

Previously, a delegation from the Municipality of Tagudin, Ilocos Sur, with heads of some of their LGU offices, also conducted a follow-up visit to various offices in Davao City, including General Services Office, City Agriculturist Office, City Assessor’s Office, City Civil Registrar’s Office, City Budget Office, Human Resource Management Office, and Internal Audit and Services Unit, the main objective was to learn from the city’s innovation solutions and strategic approaches implemented related to good governance.