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Dutch Red Cross Helps Valenzuela City Barangays Become Disaster Resilient
2013-07-08 
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CAREFUL RESCUE
A pregnant woman with her son "being rescued" by Barangay Coloong Rescue Team in a community drill sponsored by Valenzuela City Red Cross Chapter and The Netherlands Red Cross, July 6, 2013. |
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CHARY ASSISTANCE
Jonalyn Alcantara of C. Mercado St.,Brgy. Coloong is being assisted to a rescue boat, as part of a mock simulation of barangay rescue and evacuation. |
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SELF EVACUATION
Based on their barangay disaster contingency plan, 200 families "voluntarily evacuated after their houses were overfilled with floodwater". |
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COMMUNITY DRILL
Mocking a community brimmed with floodwaters during a heavy rain, the drill centered on barangay rescue operations covering Palomares and C. Mercado Streets. |
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MEDICAL SERVICES
Barangay health officials attend to the medical needs of the evacuees. |
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IN LINES
Evacuees were assisted to transfer to the nearby Coloong Elementary School. |
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RED CROSS
A breastfeeding area stationed by the Philippine Red Cross Valenzuela City Chapter. In partnership with The Netherlands Red Cross, this is the second in the series of five community drills under "Partners for Resilience" Program. |
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FEEDING
All 500 residents were given breakfast and lunch. |
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CONG. WIN
Then Mayor and now District 1 Congressman Sherwin Gatchalian congratulated Barangay Coloong Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Team for the successful drill, denoting their preparedness in disasters. |
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Caption 
Five barangays in Valenzuela City are undergoing disaster management trainings by a Netherlands-based alliance of humanitarian groups.
Among the most flood-prone in the city, the barangays of Balangkas, Coloong, Malanday, Tagalag and Wawang Pulo were selected in 2011 as areas of the Partners for Resilience (PfR) program, which aims to build among grassroots communities the capacity to respond to disasters.
In the Philippines, the beneficiaries of the program are 28 communities in Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and the Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela (CAMANAVA) area in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The five Valenzuela City barangays comprise the CAMANAVA project areas, along with the barangays of Potrero in Malabon and Catmon in Navotas.
Since the implementation of the program, the barangay disaster risk reduction and management councils (BDRRMC) of the project areas have learned to identify the elements that make their respective communities vulnerable to disasters and the ways to address them.
The vulnerability assessment would aid them draw their own contingency plans. On April 13, Malanday became the first to demonstrate its own through a drill that was participated in by around 1,100 residents.
Coloong followed suit and conducted its drill on July 6 with around 500 residents participating.
Rescue teams and barangays health workers have also participated in disaster response, public health emergency and first aid trainings.
Besides trainings, emergency kits were also provided for the beneficiaries. The PfR is also set to turn over on the last quarter of the year four rescue boats to the barangays, except Balangkas, which instead have asked for financial assistance for the building of an evacuation center.
From May to June, the five barangays made environmental-themed short documentaries for an awareness campaign. The documentaries are now being screened every Wednesday of July at the Valenzuela City Center for the Performing Arts.
The emergency kits the Valenzuela City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) gave all 33 barangays on April 2012 are based on PfR emergency kits.
The Partners for Resilience alliance is composed of The Netherlands Red Cross, Cordaid, CARE Netherlands, Wetlands International and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. The program is also currently being implemented in Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mali, Nicaragua and Uganda.
By the program’s end in 2015, PfR Project Officer Maria Patronicia Lea Mateo said that it should have inspired among its beneficiaries the right approach to disaster is not quick response, but preparedness and mitigation.
“Ituturo namin sa kanila ang paraan, pero sila pa rin ang dapat gumanap. (We would teach communities how to manage disasters, but they would have to execute them themselves.)” Mateo ended.
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