CLARK FREEPORT – The provincial government of Pampanga headed by Governor Lilia “Nanay” Pineda received two awards in the recent Regional Gawad Kalasag 2015 held at the Holiday Inn Hotel here Monday.
The Gawad KALASAG or KAlamidad at Sakuna LAbanan, SAriling Galing ang Kaligtasan, which also means shield in Filipino, is given to individuals, non-government organizations, private sector and government organizations, in recognition of their initiative in helping the Filipino government uplift the standard of disaster management in the country.
For this year’s regional awards, the Pampanga Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) won in the Best DRRM Council in the provincial category.
The award was received by Vice Governor Dennis Pineda, the PDRRMC’s vice chiar in behalf of Governor Pineda.
According to the citation read during the ceremony, the province of Pampanga exuded excellence in the disaster risk reduction and management and humanitarian assistance through its PDRRMC.
“The provincial government advanced the capacity and the awareness of the Kapampangans to impending threat of calamity through an intensified information education campaign and its commitment to strengthen mechanisms and of ensuring the reduction of disaster risk in its communities has earned them to deserve the title, Gawad Kalasag Award,” they further announced.
Angelina Blanco was also cited as the Best Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Officer in Central Luzon.
The City of San Fernando headed by Mayor Edwin Santiago also received two awards namely, Second Place in Government and Emergency Management and Best DRRMC in component city category.
Other awardees include, James Gordon Memorial Hospital for Best Hospital in DRRM; Camp Tinio National High School and Lazaro Francisco Elementary School for Best Public School in Rural and Urban categories, respectively; Olongapo City Fire Rescue and Tarlac Disaster Response Team for Best Government Emergency Management in Urban Search and Rescue and Basic Search and Rescue categories, respectively; Barangay Pagas Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija for Best Barangay DRRMC, and Olongapo City for Best City DRRMC highly urbanized category.
The regional awardees automatically qualify for the national level of Gawad Kalasag.
By Angelique Tuazon
