Albay bags Kalasag award as best PDCC

MANILA, Philippines - After surviving the wrath of Mayon Volcano, typhoons, storm surges and floods with zero casualty, Albay bagged for the second consecutive year the Gawad Kalasag Award as best provincial disaster coordinating council (PDCC) in the country.

Kalasag Award national selection committee validators took note of Albay’s mitigation and preparedness measures, which they said “can never be surpassed.”

“Albay PDCC is an epitome of a resilient province... the model of disaster risk reduction and management, not only in the Philippines but also in the global arena,” the awarding body said.

It stressed out that the response mechanism, early recovery and rehabilitation measures are commendable, enabling the PDCC to achieve the zero-casualty objective through the effective and efficient implementation of the four phases of disaster risk management.

As another long-term solution to risk reduction, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said the province is serious in its plan to buy the lots of those residing in disaster-prone areas to stop them from going back to their places after they are relocated.

“We are stepping up our strategies to the next level of preparedness and resources have been committed to the effort. All these are for a higher goal – that development can proceed in the midst of disaster risks,” Salceda told The STAR.

Salceda admitted that many of those relocated families keep going back to the risk areas. “Although already relocated, they still keep on going back to their places to attend to their properties. If we buy these properties, there is no reason for them to go back to these risky areas,” he said.

Albay put in place disaster risk reduction mechanisms to attain its zero-casualty objective after super typhoon “Reming” hit the province, leaving at least 1,500 people either dead or missing, and untold destruction to properties