Iloilo City has added another feather to its cap, winning the first-ever Galing Pook Resilience Award for its efforts to bring disaster preparedness and emergency response closer to residents.
Mayor Raisa Treñas announced the recognition for the city’s Iloilo City Action and Resilience (ICARe) Centers, a program that decentralizes disaster risk management through district-level response hubs.
The award was presented during the Galing Pook Awards ceremony at Malacañang on October 21. Iloilo and Baguio City were the only local government units given the special citation among 19 national finalists.
Treñas said the initiative was meant to protect the lives, families and livelihoods of Ilonggos by improving the city’s readiness for disasters and emergencies.
“Kag para guid ini sa kada Ilonggo,” Treñas said in a Facebook post. “Ang aton pagpanghanda kag pagpaayo sang emergency response may isa ka katuyuan – amo ang maprotektahan ang inyo kabuhi, pamilya, kag palangabuhian,” she added.
The mayor thanked the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, barangays, emergency responders, volunteers and partners from government, the private sector and civil society for helping strengthen the city’s disaster preparedness.
The latest recognition marks Iloilo City’s fourth Galing Pook Award, following its previous wins for the Dinagyang Festival in 2012, the Iloilo-Batiano River Development Project in 2018 and the I-BIKE Program in 2022.IMT
