Tacloban City, July 2 – In yesterday’s kick-off ceremony of the National Disaster Consciousness Month, Mayor Alfred Romualdez, said “I salute the DSWD as I feel the agency is over – tasked,” citing shelter as one of its concerns. “I do not blame the DSWD when it comes to lack of relief,” adding that the city is overpopulated with students who are mostly not from Tacloban but from various provinces. The local chief executive further stated that “we should also take into consideration culture, belief and tradition, and must have a new mindset. We should remember real dangers and prepare for the next generation.”

On the other hand, DSWD Assistant Regional Director for Operations, Restituto Macuto mentioned in his speech that “the enactment of the country’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010 has been a milestone for the government’s priority direction for a safe, adaptable and resilinet Filipino communities toward sustainable development. It signaled the paradigm shift from reactive disaster management to a holistic, comprehensive, integrated, proactive and multi-sectoral approach. With this development lies the challenge for the DSWD to hurdle as vice-chairperson for disaster response and as lead for the three major clusters – Food and Non -n Food, Evacuation Center Management, Emergency Shelter and Protection, and Shelter and Livelihood.”

He added, “as vice-chairperson for disaster response, we will facilitate the crafting of the Regional Disaster Response Plan for Region Eight based on the National Disaster Response Plan. As part of its activities, the plan will be presented on the last day of the Regional Rescue Jamboree on July 25, 2015 in Maasin, Southern Leyte.#