The DSWD Field Office Eight, in coordination with the Tacloban City Social Welfare and Development Office, recently gathered some fifty fishermen of Barangays 88, 89, and 90 of San Jose District in Tacloban City to an orientation on “Team Balikatan, Rescue in Emergency, or TeamBre for short.

The project represents a team of fisher folks organized and mobilized for a collaborated joint undertakings in rescue and evacuation of affected families in coastal barangays and other disaster-prone areas. Its main objective is to develop a pool of volunteers among fisherfolks to support community resiliency and provide alternative source of livelihood during disaster months.

In her welcome message, DSWD Field Office Eight Regional Director Leticia Diokno told the fishermen that “your commitment to Team Balikatan is a great honor on your part to be of service to your fellow members in the community. “ She also mentioned about the damaging effects of Climate Change and the importance of sustainable development for the earth’s environment.

Further, Diokno said that the project is in support of what President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has cited as the administration’s zero casualty goal in times of disasters. She told them, “you become an extension of the government to inform, to rescue.”

On the other hand, Natalie Manuel of the Social Technology Bureau of the DSWD Central Office in Manila revealed that if the project becomes a good strategy, it will be replicated nationwide. She reported that the project, which is piloted in Tacloban and Surigao, adopts the cash-for-work scheme like when fisherfolks are displaced or needing assistance during lean months or typhoon months.

Meanwhile, City Social Welfare and Development Officer Liliosa Baltazar bared that the participants were selected from close to a thousand fishermen from the coastal barangays. They were assessed, and the important thing considered, she emphasized, is that they have the heart and commitment to help the needy in times of emergencies.