As part of the kickoff of the National Disaster Resilience Month (NDRM), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VII launched the Emergency Go Bag on July 5, 2021.
“When there is an emergency, it is necessary to evacuate to a safer place. In preparation for this, always remember to have an emergency go bag with supplies enough for your family,” said Social Welfare Officer IV and head of the Disaster Response Management Division Lilibeth Cabiara during the virtual kickoff ceremony.
The emergency go bag should contain the following items: important documents in sealed envelopes, money including coins, ready-to-eat food which is enough for three days’ consumption, a first-aid kit with face masks and face shields.
Other items are supplies for the needs of infants, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities (PWDs), sleeping bags or mats, blankets, flashlight, whistle, clothing, raincoat, boots, sanitary supplies, and radio with extra new batteries.
Evacuees should also prepare drinking water in sealed containers enough for three days’ consumption.
Cabiara added the emergency go bag should be waterproof and abrasion-resistant, and can be attached to another bag, a bike, or a vehicle.
“We should make disaster preparedness a lifestyle. If we are all aware of what to do and what to bring, we could save lives and be more resilient,” said Cabiara.
The activity is participated in by DSWD-7 Field Office-based staff and in the different cities and towns in the region.
Partner stakeholders like Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries also participated in the activity by showing their emergency go bag as part of their preparation in times of disaster. Disaster preparedness is also tackled during the Family Development Session (FDS) of 4Ps.
Formerly called the National Disaster Consciousness Month, the celebration was renamed to NDRM through an Executive Order No. 29 issued by President Rodrigo Duterte on June 28, 2017, and the observance highlights the shift from disaster awareness building to disaster resilience.
This year’s theme is “Tamang Pamamahala’t Kahandaan at Pagtutulungan sa Sakuna at Pandemya’y Kalasag ng Bayan.”
Meanwhile, DSWD-7 has already extended a total of Php 8 million worth of assistance consisting of over 17,000 family food packs to farmers and fisherfolks in the island municipality of San Francisco in Cebu. Each family was provided with at least two (2) family food packs.
These families from the town’s 15 barangays whose livelihoods were affected by its declaration of the ‘Off-Season’ or the banning of catching of fish for three (3) months due to the island’s inclement weather condition and low crop production. ###
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