The Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council is once again adjudged as the best DRRM council in Metro Manila as it topped this year’s Regional Gawad Kalasag.
Apart from being named the Best DRRM Council in Metro Manila for the fourth time, the QCDRRMO also bagged the Best Government Emergency Management Services or GEMS.
GEMS is a special award acknowledging the efforts of the QC disaster office in emergency response.
The GEMS award recognizes Quezon City as the region’s best provider of emergency management services, which includes emergency medical treatment and first aid, search and rescue, urban search and rescue, water search and rescue, incident management, and other emergency response services.
Through the years, Quezon City continues to improve its disaster risk reduction and management capabilities through the procurement of equipment and training of the members of the QCDRRM Council.
Quezon City also bagged six First Place awards this year, namely: Best DRRM Council, Best City DRRM Council, Best Local Hospital (Quezon City General Hospital), Best Specialty Hospital (Philippine Children’s Medical Center), Best Civil Society Organization (World Mission Society Church of God), and Best Private Corporate Institution (People 360).
QC also earned Finalist citations for Barangay Batasan, Rosa L. Susano Elementary School, and St Paul University Quezon City for Best Barangay DRRM, Best Public Elementary School, and Best Higher Education Institution, respectively.
Mayor Herbert Bautista acknowledged the efforts of the QCDRRM Council and commended the determination of the city to be resilient in disasters.
“DRRM is not just one person or one department. It is a directive, it is a mode of governance. DRRM is practiced all the way from the barangay level. Everyone is involved because that is what disaster risk reduction and management is all about,” Bautista said.
Gawad Kalasag is the premier annual award for outstanding contributions in the field of disaster risk reduction and management and humanitarian assistance.
The award is the principal mechanism of the National DRRM Council to advance the awareness of the best practices of DRRM and humanitarian response and action.
The regional winners from each category will be competing at the national level.
