EdSa: ‘Kalasag’ affirmation of Fernandino resiliency
CI TY OF SAN FERNANDO - Mayor Edwin “EdSa”Santiago yesterday stressed that the new Gawad Kalasag award received by this city attest to the resiliency and readiness of San Fernando in times of disaster.
On Friday, the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (RDRRMO) announced that the City of San Fernando is the lone recipient of the Gawad Kalasag under the component city category.
The San Fernando Fire and Rescue Unit is also a recipient of the special recognition for local government emergency management and response team under the Gawad Kalasag.
Sought for reaction, Santiago expressed his gratitude to the RDRRMO for recognizing the efforts and activities related to mitigating disaster and rescuing people implemented by the city government here.
He stressed that the award is an affirmation that the city government is on the right track in ensuring the safety and security of its people, as well as the tourists and investors who trusted this city with their investments and lives.
“As government officials and employees, we cannot prevent natural disasters but we can at least mitigate its effect and prepare the people on the proper measures to do in case it happens and we are both elated and thankful that are efforts were recognized,” he said.
With this, Santiago vowed to sustain the innovative rescue operations efforts and improving the equipments of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) to continue ensuring the safety of public.
He disclosed that CDRRMO currently implements the seven minute emergency response time which has saved and continue to save dozens of lives.
“We are serious when it comes to quick response. When we say quick, it is quick because we know that a second can both kill or save a life and we wanted to have the second choice,” he said.
Santiago also stressed that the city will soon establish its state of the art command center to boost measures being implemented on disaster mitigation, emergency response, traffic management and peace and order.