Cemex, PBSP teach local community health and safety measures

THE PROVINCE of Batangas experienced a phenomenon called an earthquake swarm that occurred in early April of this year. In a short period of time, there is a burst of earthquake activity in the area, affecting almost 30,000 persons and damaging over 3,000 houses.

In order to be better prepared and lessen the risk of injury and death in emergency situations in the future, Cemex Foundation in partnership with Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) conducted the “Kalusugan. Kaligtasan. Kahandaan.” ( Health. Safety. Preparedness.) in Brgy. Soro- soro Karsada in Batangas City.

“Health and safety is of primary importance to Cemex. Kalusugan. Kaligtasan. Kahandaan. (KKK) is about imparting to our communities the value of health and safety, and disaster-preparedness,” Cemex Foundation executive director Chito Maniago said.

During the initial plenary session, residents from the barangay were gathered and given basic information about natural and man-made disasters. They were also taught on how to respond in emergency situations, such as the “duck, cover, and hold” step during earthquakes.

In the coming months, a three-day Disaster Risk Reduction Management Training will be given to the barangay leaders to enable the community to create their own emergency contingency plan in case of disasters.

Another component of the KKK is the Safe Motherhood Caravan which aims to educate women on life-saving maternal and child health services and the importance of saving to prepare for pregnancy and con- tribute to reducing risks of maternal and child deaths. To achieve this objective, the residents were taught traditional and modern family planning techniques.

Aside from the training, Cemex and PBSP turned over medical equipment such as fetal doppler, digital weighing scale, and blood pressure (BP) apparatus with mobile stand and stethoscope to the community.

“Before Cemex and PBSP came, our midwife told me that we needed more equipment. A lot of pregnant women couldn’t be accommodated because we didn’t have complete tools. Originally, we really wanted to buy these using our own (barangay’s) money but we lacked in funds. That’s why we were ecstatic and grateful to Cemex and PBSP, not only for the medical equipment, but also for conducting the trainings that would really help the community,” said Antonio Casas, Brgy. Sorosoro Karsada chairman.

Cemex is also a member of PBSP-initiated Water Alliance, a multi-sectoral partnership initiated by the business sector that works to create solutions to water security challenges in the Philippines.

“PBSP is the leading organization in terms of espousing and promoting social development. We are an active member. We trust PBSP in conducting our programs and we are very happy with the results,” Ms. Maniago said.