3 City Hall officials off to Taiwan to learn disaster management

CEBU, Philippines -  The Cebu City government is sending three delegates to Kaohsiung City in Taiwan in res-ponse to an invitation for a knowledge exchange program to intensify disaster management.

 The City Council recently approved P242,000 to defray the travel expenses of Councilors Dave Tumulak and Gerardo Ca-rillo, and Simeon Romarate. The amount will be charged against the city’s Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund.  Tumulak chairs the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, while Romarate is the executive director of Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. The City Council recommended Carillo in lieu of CCDRRMO operations head Alvin Santillana.

The Cebu City delegates are expected to share their know-ledge to its counterparts in Taiwan and at the same time learn during their visit at the Fire Bureau and Kaohsiung Emergency Operations Center in Taiwan on August 7 to 9.

“With the knowledge exchange program, both cities will stand to benefit since Taiwan and Philippines is also prone to disaster and natural calamities, and with their experiences in emergency and disaster management, Cebu City can duplicate their best practices and apply them in local situations,” said Carillo,  who authored the resolution.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama received on July 9 an invitation letter from the City of Kaohsiung for the said activity.

“Like many other cities in Southeast Asia, Kaohsiung is also geographically vulnerable to natural disaster. We understand the substantial efforts required to recover from each natural disaster, and it is my deep hope that we can exchange our experience in disaster management to protect our citizens,” read the letter signed by Henry Huang, Chief of Division of International Affairs.

The activity would cover the system set-up, disaster preparedness, source of fund, and organization structure of the Emergency Operations Center.

Rama, through a memorandum, has authorized the city officials to travel in Taiwan to represent the City of Cebu in the activity. (FREEMAN)