TACLOBAN CITY- Interior officer-in-charge Eduardo Año said that he would issue an order for all the regions in the country to have their own ‘peace and resilience center’ that will serve as a hub in times of man-made and natural disasters.
Año issued this remarks as he led in the inauguration of the first-ever Peace and Resilience Center in the country located inside the regional office of the Department of Interior and Local Government(DILG), this city, on Wednesday(Oct.24).
Año noted that the inauguration of the Peace and Resilience Center happened just few weeks before the fifth anniversary of the onslaught of super typhoon ‘ Yolanda’ that killed more than 6,000 people in the region on November 8,2013.
“This center must serve its purpose as a learning hub for promoting coherence, collaboration, and inter-dependence among various stakeholders…it should be a rallying point to be prepared to combat various disaster scenarios,” Año said in his speech.
In an interview, Año described the facility as a good example and model for all other regions to put up.
“We will not only encourage but I will impose that all the regions must have a peace and resilience center like this,” he said.
According to the DILG chief, the said facility will serve as a venue for meetings and conferences relative to disaster management and response thus ‘ensure the continuity of services and preparedness’ among local government units.
The facility was constructed early this year and was finished this month at cost of P5 million sourced by the DILG regional office from its own savings and donations.
The area where the facility was built was donated by the provincial government of Leyte through a usufruct.
Also present during the inauguration were Governors Leopoldo Dominico Petilla (Leyte); Sharee Ann Tan (Samar) and Marcelo Ferdinand Picardal (Eastern Samar), Major Gen. Raul Farnacio, commanding officer of the 8th Infantry Division, and officials of the various agencies under the DILG, to include the Philippine National Police headed by Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos.
(JOEY A. GABIETA, ROEL T. AMAZONA)
