Social Welfare Officer III, Alice Viazon, (3rd from left), 58, is one of five awardees of Consuelo Foundation’s Search for Exemplary Gov’t. Registered Social Workers for her commendable practice during the Yolanda disaster operations, particularly along child protection during emergencies. Around her are fellow social workers from the DSWD Field Office Eight; Social Welfare Officer V, Marcela Lim (2nd from L), the president of a regional association of DSWD social workers who nominated her to the Awards. Extreme left is Pauline Nadera, focal person of the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office of the DSWD Eight, and another Social Welfare Officer III, Leilani Jocano (extreme right). The nominee had been assigned to the Tacloban City Convention Center (familiarly known as Astrodome) which served as evacuation camp for 472 families affected by super typhoon Yolanda. Despite being a victim herself, she religiously performed her tasks wholeheartedly even to the extent of spending nights at the huge but cramped facility. Alice cared more for the children and pregnant women such that she worked her way to provide a more livable environment, especially for those staying in tents within the camp. “The children might get sick and the poor pregnant mothers need a sanitary and comfortable space to stay,” she relates. With a good managerial skill, Alice moved heaven and hell by mobilizing staff and volunteers to clean the entire area, muddy and all. She linked with the Bureau of Fire Protection to help them wash up all the mess. The nominee wasn’t only afraid of an outbreak of disease, but feared about their safety, be it night or day. She was able to stop a trafficking attempt by a faith – based organization on one family, and an illegal recruitment case. The nominee had to keep close watch of the families that she organized a Peace and Order Committee, and employ lady police officers and military personnel for a round-the-clock operations. A curfew was imposed; at the strike of 10 p.m., the gates of the camp were closed. She oriented volunteers and others from her team on the Anti-Trafficking Act for them to be able to spot a suspect. Her dedication goes beyond all these. A non-governmental organization, which was about to conduct feeding using powdered milk, was first looked into by the Bureau of Food and Drug Administration (BFAD), upon her request. She has a loving and understanding family to back her up – husband, Jeremiah, Sr. is 53 years old, and only child, Jeremiah II, 25, is a medical technologist at the RTR Medical Center in Tacloban. The family’s residence is at Rainbow Village at Brgy. Manlurip, San Jose District, Tacloban City. #