Olongapo is Hall of Famer at Gawad Kalasag

Six-year old gets loudest applause at Kalasag Awards rites

City Disaster Coordinating Councils (CDCC) of Olongapo got the award for the Best Highly Urbanized category while Barangay Sta. Rita (Olongapo City) bagged the Best Barangay Disaster Coordinating Council (BDCC) in the Urban Barangay category

A six-year-old boy from Barangay Desawo in T'boli, South Cotabato, stole the limelight at the 2009 Gawad Kalasag Awards yesterday (Wednesday) at Malacanang's Rizal Hall.

Angelo Lungkay, received the loudest cheers from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as he was going up the stage to be feted for his heroic deed. He was the youngest of the lot.

Lungkay, accompanied by his parents, was the recipient of the Heroic Deed individual category. He had rescued other boys who were buried in a landslide due to heavy rains at the height of Typhoon Frank in June last year.

He also went under the mud but he managed to free himself and dig his five companions.

Sharing the limelight with Lungkay was 14-year old Rodney Berdin from San Jose, Antique, who was also honored for saving his mother and two siblings, also during the typhoon.

SFO1 Jaime Alcoriza, the fireman who died fighting a fire that gutted a commercial building in Cainta, Rizal, last year, was also conferred the Heroic Deeds Award. His family received the honor in his memory.

A total of 57 individuals and groups were deemed worthy of this year's awards, which came with plaques, citations and cash.

Assisting the President in the ceremony were, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Interior and Local Governments Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

The Provincial Disaster Coordinating Councils (PDCC) of the provinces of Albay, Antique and Davao del Norte bagged the Best PDCC award while the City Disaster Coordinating Councils (CDCC) of Olongapo, Makati and Bacolod got the award for the Best Highly Urbanized category.

The CDCCs of Dagupan, Bayawan, Tagum and Legaspi bagged the Independent Component/ Component City category.

Winners for the Best Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council (MDCC) first to third class municipality category were the MDCC Calabanga, Camarines Sur; MDCC San Jose de Buenavista in Antique; MDCC Maragusan Compostella Valley; while those for the fourth and sixth class municipality category, were Guimbal, Iloilo; Lugait, Misamis Oriental; and, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte.

The Best Barangay Disaster Coordinating Council (BDCC) in the Urban Barangay category were Barangay Maa (Poblacion, Davao City); Barangay Sta. Rita (Olongapo City); and, BarangayTangub (Bacolod City.

In the Rural Barangay category, the winners were Brgy. Poblacion, Tupi (South Cotabato); Brgy. Marcos (San Mateo, Isabela); and, Barangay Pis-anan (Sibalom, Antique).

The Gawad Kalasag for non-government organizations on Humanitarian Assistance was conferred to the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Antique; Child Sponsorship for Community Development and ABANTE Aklan.

The Best Private/Volunteer Organization was Kabalikat Bicol, BB-PICAG and the 505th Search and Rescue Squadron.

The Bulacan Rescue 117, Baguio City Fire Station and the Baguio City Emergency Medical Services bagged the Best Government Emergency Managers award while the Abellana National High School, Agusan National High School and Daraga National High School won the Best School category; East Avenue Medical Center and Dr. Pablo Torres Memorial Hospital for the Best Hospital category.

Special Citations were given to INTERPOL Incident Response Team (Cebu), SBMA Fire Dept. Rescue Team, Makati Rescue, Amity Public safety Academy and the National Bureau of Investigation-Disaster Victim Identification Team.

Individual awardees included Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Raul Banias, and Albay Governor Joey Salceda, among others.

In 1998, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) initiated the Gawad Kalasag as a recognition scheme in its search for excellence on disaster and rescue management and humanitarian assistance.

It provides the mechanism in obtaining sustained commitment and support from the highest level of government by recognizing the exceptional contributions of the various DRM practitioners and humanitarian workers in building the resilience of nations and communities to disaster.

The Gawad Kalasag also aims to recognize individuals, groups or institutions that have shown extraordinary courage, heroism, self-sacrifice, and bravery against all odds in times of natural and human-induced emergencies and disasters. (OPS/PIA)