DSWD-7 launches the Emergency Go Bag

 MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY -- Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Field Office VII launched the Emergency Go Bag on June 5 as part of the kickoff event for the National Disaster Resilience Month (NDRM) celebration with this year’s theme, “Tamang Pamamahala’t Kahandaan at Pagtutulungan sa Sakuna at Pandemya’y Kalasag ng Bayan.”

   

DSWD-7 Social Welfare Officer IV and head of the Disaster Response Management Division Lilibeth Cabiara said that when there is an emergency, it is necessary to evacuate to a safer place and in preparation for this families are encouraged to always have an emergency go bag ready with supplies enough for your family.

Cabiara said that the emergency go bag should contain the following items: important documents in sealed envelopes, money including coins, ready-to-eat food which is enough for three days’ consumption, a first-aid kit with face masks and face shields.

Other items are supplies for the needs of infants, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities (PWDs), sleeping bags or mats, blankets, flashlight, whistle, clothing, raincoat, boots, sanitary supplies, and radio with extra new batteries, she added.

Evacuees should also prepare drinking water in sealed containers enough for three days’ consumption. Cabiara added that the emergency go bag should be waterproof and abrasion-resistant, and can be attached to another bag, a bike, or a vehicle.

 

  

"We should make disaster preparedness a lifestyle. If we are all aware of what to do and what to bring, we could save lives and be more resilient," Cabiara said.

DSWD-7 Field Office-based staff participated in the various NDRM kickoff activities in cities and towns in the region with the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries and other partners/stakeholders showing their emergency go bag as part of their preparation in times of disaster.  Disaster preparedness is also tackled during the Family Development Session (FDS) of 4Ps, according to Cabiara.

Meanwhile, DSWD-7 has already extended a total of P8M worth of assistance consisting of over 17,000 family food packs to farmers and fisherfolks in the island municipality of San Francisco in Cebu. Each family was provided with at least two-family food packs.

These families from the town’s 15 barangays whose livelihoods were affected by the declaration of the ‘Off-Season’ or the banning of catching of fish for three months due to the island’s inclement weather condition and low crop production. (Photos: DSWD7)