TWO hundred fishermen and their families
in Bato and Baras towns will be organized and trained on disaster preparedness
and management as well as livelihood ventures under a P3-million project funded
by the Philippine Government and the AusAID.
Implemented under the
Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP), the project being
managed by the Diocese of Virac Social Action Foundation, Inc (DVSAFI) began
last September in the fishing villages of Pananaogan in Bato, Putsan and Danao
in Baras and will end on February 28, 2014.
Rev F. Laudemer Jose Gapaz, DVSAFI
executive director, disclosed that AusAid provided P2 million while the balance
was shouldered by the government as counterpart.
The 18-month project is in
support of the government’s thrust to educate coastal barangay residents on the
importance of disaster preparedness and management.
All 200 fisherfolks from the three
barangays will be trained on disaster risk management and on the use of
appropriate tools and equipment.
A select group of 50 men will undergo water
rescue operation and survival training as well as basic life support, after
which the two fisherfolk organizations will be provided safety equipment such
as compass, life vests, blinkers, head lamp and radios.
The organizations will
be accredited in the respective towns as members of local special bodies.
Aside from DRR-related legislation to be
sought from barangay councils, the project will have as its output the
preparation of a DRR profile, to include an inventory of evacuation houses,
transportation facilities and persons with medical background.
The final output
will be a DRR operational plan, for which the commitment of
resident-beneficiaries would have to be sought.
Alternative livelihood opportunities
would be provided the beneficiaries through trainings on bio-intensive
gardening and fish processing, with seeds to be given by the local agriculture
offices and 14 sets of garden tools purchased under the project.
The implementation of the project is
providential as it comes in the wake of confirmed reports of many fishermen
from Catanduanes declared missing during inclement weather, especially when the
lack of food for their families forces them to brave rough seas. – Catanduanes Tribune
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