Tanods in Bantayan join rescue and relief operations training

AROUND 100 barangay tanods and representatives of the local government agencies joined the weeklong disaster rescue and relief operations training in Bantayan town last Monday.

Personnel from the 7th Regional Community Defense Group (7RCDG) of the Army’s Reserve Command led by group commander Col. Raymundo Bañares Jr. spearheaded the training at the municipal gym in coordination with the Office of Civil Defense.

Bantayan is the first recipient of this activity, the Cebu province’s flagship program on Community Defense Disaster Risk Reduction Management Training that was launched on February this year.

Bantayan town Mayor Ian Christopher Escario said during the opening ceremony that after the intensive training, “the town will now have enough force to effectively respond to relief and rescue operations.”

He said natural disasters could happen anytime, thus the need to prepare for it to mitigate its worse effect.

The 100 barangay tanods are part of the 17,000 tanods to be trained provincewide as a reserve force.

Gov. Gwen Garcia led the signing of the declaration of commitment to the program.

The series of trainings is expected to be finished within a year in all the local government units in the province.