Local chief executives should be at the forefront of emergency response operations during calamities and preemptive activities for imminent disasters.
This was the appeal of Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) chief Anthony Damalerio to mayors who attended a daylong crash course on emergency response on Thursday.
Mayors should be leading operations in their respective emergency command centers and not leave MDRRMO personnel to solely handle response activities, he said.
Damalerio hoped that mayors would implement emergency measures taught during the seminar which was conducted by the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD).
The OCD’s Incident Command System-Executive Course was held at the Bohol Tropics Resort in Tagbilaran City and was attended by 45 of Bohol’s 48 mayors.
According to Damalerio, the course was crafted by the Department of National Defense for more efficient response for calamities and manmade disasters.
Topics were designed to prepare local chief executives to handle response operations for tragedies and emergency situations during large events such as foundations days, fiestas and other activities, he said.
The seminar was supposed to be three days long but was cut short as Gov. Edgar Chatto who requested for the activity to be carried out will be unavailable due to official activities during the following days.
Meanwhile, three mayors were unable to attend the seminar due to previously scheduled official engagements.
They were Buenavista Mayor Sampol Tirol, Alburquerque Mayor Elpren Tungol and Candijay Mayor Christopher Tutor. (R. Tutas)