Iloilo – Humanitarian NGOs Panay Center for Disaster Response and Citizens’ Disaster Response Center, together with Singaporean partner Mercy Relief, unveiled the community disaster hazard map in Baranggay Tigum, Pavia, Iloilo as a culminating activity to its disaster preparedness project in Visayas and Mindanao.

The project, supported by Singapore’s leading media company MediaCorp, was implemented in 24 landslide and flood-prone communities in seven municipalities and three cities in the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Sarangani and Misamis Oriental.

“Basic skills were provided to community members, equipping them with knowledge and skills necessary in leading the community’s disaster preparedness capabilities,” PCDR’s Executive Director Armie Almero said. “The project successfully assisted the communities in forming their own Disaster Preparedness Communities,” she added.

“Aside from trainings and awareness-raising activities, the project also helped develop and build community resources for long-term mitigation and risk reduction”, Almero said. “Tree planting and sustainable agriculture activities contributed to the overall risk reduction efforts of the communities.”

“Because of the success of the project, we intend to replicate this in other areas as well,” CDRC’s Executive Director Lourdes Louella Escandor said. She also stressed that “this type of project is very timely, especially at this time of changing climates and increasingly destructive calamities.”

Mercy Relief’s Head of International Programme Abdul Jaffar Mohd Mydin remarked that the impact of disasters can be lessened significantly through collaboration between local and international stakeholders on purposeful projects like this.

He added “Community initiatives would not be possible without the support of the community itself – both local and foreign. The assistance rendered by MediaCorp is another indication of the humanitarian inclinations amongst fellow men, and also of the strengthening of bilateral relations between Singapore and the Philippines.”

Mediacorp held a charity benefit TV show “Project Hope” in 2009, where more than 100 celebrities from the ASEAN region came together to raise money for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) and the Padang earthquake in Indonesia, including the beneficiaries of Mercy Relief’s humanitarian efforts.

About Mercy Relief

Mercy Relief is an independent non-governmental humanitarian charity, established in response to the human tragedies in Asia. Its aid programmes include providing timely and effective assistance to disaster-stricken locations; and longer-term development projects to uplift the lives of impoverished and disadvantaged communities, focusing on water & sanitation, shelter, healthcare, basic education and sustainable livelihoods.

To date, Mercy Relief has touched the lives and hearts in 20 countries in Asia, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and Yemen.

About MediaCorp

MediaCorp is Singapore’s leading media company with the most complete range of platforms, spanning television, radio, newspapers, magazines, movies, digital and out-of-home media.

It pioneered the development of Singapore’s broadcasting industry, with the broadcast of Radio in 1936 and Television in 1963. Today, MediaCorp has over 50 products and brands in four languages (English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil), reaching out to all adults in Singapore every week.

MediaCorp is an active regional player through co-productions in TV dramas and movies, magazines publishing, as well as Channel NewsAsia International, the only Asian-owned English news channel.

About CDRC

The Citizens’ Disaster Response Center (CDRC) is a non-government organization that pioneered and continues to promote community-based disaster management in the Philippines. CDRC operates nationwide through a network of Regional Centers affiliated with the Citizens’ Disaster Response Network and through people’s organizations.

Organized in 1984, CDRC focuses its assistance to the most affected, least served and most vulnerable sectors of the population through preparedness and mitigation, emergency relief, and rehabilitation programs. CDRC responds to minor disasters and major emergencies in the Philippines.

Other Regional Centers involved in the project were the Center for People’s Resources and Services (CPRS), Panday Bulig (PB), and Disaster Response Center (DIRECT). #