The Summit started on a high note!
A 99.75% over-all rating in the Gawad Kalasag regional finals and a back-to-back win in the prestigious competition provided the provincial government of Isabela with just the right push as it embarked on its first ever Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Summit held June 24 – 25, 2014.
Some four hundred local chief executives, DRRM experts, policy makers, scientists, AFP, PNP and BFP officials and personnel, rescuers and representatives of the private sector converged at the Governor Faustino N. Dy Session Hall of the Isabela Provincial Capitol for the two-day summit initiated by the Office of Civil Defense Region 2 in partnership with the PDRRMC and DILG – Isabela.
The Summit was aimed at strengthening linkages and harnessing inter-agency cooperation among partners and stakeholders in order to build safer and more resilient communities in the province of Isabela.
In his message before the delegates, Isabela Governor and PDRRMC Chair Faustino Dy III underscored the primordial duty of government to uphold the people’s constitutional right to life and property. “Isinasagawa po natin ang Summit na ito dahil naniniwala po tayo sa kahalagahan ng buhay ng bawat isa sa ating nasasakupan. Hindi natin maatim na mawala o ipagsapalaran ang kahit isang buhay,”he stressed.
It was 0.25 shy of a perfect score but certainly very impressive nonetheless.
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of the province of Isabela obtained 99.75% in the 2014 Gawad Kalasag Search for Excellence in Disaster Risk Reduction and Humanitarian Assistance regional finals and was adjudged Best PDRRMC in Region II, thus, earning a berth in the national finals, while affirming its predominance in disaster preparedness in the Cagayan Valley region.
This was disclosed by Office of Civil Defense Regional Director Norma C. Talosig, Chairperson of the Regional Evaluating Committee, in her message before some four hundred participants to the first Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Summit which opened June 24, 2014 at the Gov. Faustino N. Dy Session Hall, Isabela Provincial Capitol.
It was a back-to-back victory for the province, having been given the same honors in 2013 after beating the provinces of Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya.
Lumutang ng husto ang galing at pagkamalikhain ng Isabeleño matapos tanghaling kampeon ang Isabela Bambanti Festival float sa Aliwan Fiesta 2014 na ginanap kamakailan sa lungsod ng Pasay. Tinalo ng likha ng lalawigan ng Isabela ang labing-anim na kalahok mula sa iba’t ibang panig ng kapuluan kabilang ang Utanon Festivalfloat ng Cebu at ang Indayog ti Sabsabongng Baguio City.
Ang bayan ng Luna ang kumatawan sa lalawigan ng Isabela matapos tanghaling Kampeon sa Bambanti Festival noong Enero. Ayon kay Mayor Jimmy Atayde ng naturang bayan, sa labimpitong pabolosong float
na kumatawan sa iba’t-ibang festivals sa Luzon, Visayas at Mindanao, lutang na lutang ang ganda ng Isabela float na pinatingkad ng maliliit na butil ng bigas, mais at munggo. Hila ng dalawang matitikas na kalabaw, inilarawan ng float ang iba’t-ibang aspeto at proseso ng pagsasaka katuwang ang bambanti na siyang simbolo ng galing, sipag, tatag, at pagkamapagmatyag ng lahing Isabeleño. Tampok din dito ang St. Mathias Church ng Tumauini na itinayo noong 1707, isa sa mga pinakalumang simbahan sa Pilipinas at kilala dahil sa kanyang kakaibang cylindrical bell tower at ang Magat Dam na tinaguriang pinakamalaki sa buong Southeast Asia.
