“We should equip the people on the ground.” says Director Felino Castro, Head of the Disaster Response Assistance and Management Bureau (DReAMB) of the DSWD, during a turn-over ceremony where brand-new satellite equipment were officially turned over to DSWD Field Office VIII.
These state-of- the-art satellite equipment were donated through a partnership with the UKSA (United Kingdom Space Agency) and Inmarsat, a British satellite telecommunications company. These were donated in order to enhance DSWD’s capability for emergency telecommunications during disasters.
During the turn-over, DSWD FO VIII received two satellite phones, which can be used to make calls and send text messages even when commercial networks are unavailable. DSWD also received a MCD-4800 (“Football”), a Cobham Explorer 5075GX and a Cobham Explorer 710 Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) terminal, which are used to provide Wi-Fi connectivity anywhere in the globe, as well as accessories such as batteries, foldable solar panels, routers, wireless access points and extension cables.
Inmarsat has also covered the subscription fee until April 2019, and has sent specialists to train DSWD staff on how to use these equipment.
With this technology now available, DSWD can now gather information and send disaster reports in real time. According to DSWD FO VIII Regional Director Restituto Macuto, “We are very grateful that you have chosen our Region for this project. It will be a big help.”
Several field offices (FOs) have been selected to pioneer this project, including FO V, FO CAR, FO XII and FO VIII. Project implementation in these offices has already commenced earlier this year.
Over-all, the total cost of this project for FO VIII is about P5,000,000.00 – 3 million for the equipment and 2 million for maintenance. #DSWDMayMalasakit #DSWDParaSaNakararami