Photo by Comenei Ali/BIO
COTABATO CITY—As part of this year’s National Disaster Resilience Month celebration, over 250 participants took part in the ‘Run for Resilience’ fun run event organized by the Bangsamoro Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (READi) on Saturday, July 1.
The early morning event started at Cotabato State University (CotSU) and concluded at the Bangsamoro Government Center (BGC) ground in Cotabato City. Various ministries, offices, humanitarian partners, and civil society organizations (CSOs) from the BARMM region actively participated in the event.
Under the theme ‘BIDAng Pilipino: Building a Stronger Filipino Well-Being Towards Disaster Resilience’, the event aimed to promote physical fitness, raise awareness about disaster resilience, and empower individuals for a more resilient society. It encouraged the general public to engage in various activities scheduled throughout the month of July.
Bangsamoro READi head Atty. Naguib Sinarimbo emphasized the importance of ensuring the well-being of the Bangsamoro people to effectively contribute to building disaster resilience in the region.
“Together, let us join hand-and-hand in consolidating our efforts in gearing towards a better and disaster-resilient Bangsamoro region,” said Sinarimbo, who also heads the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG).
OCDRO-BARMM Officer-in-Charge Myrna Angot highlighted the benefits of participating in such events, stating that apart from the incentives, it promotes a healthier and more active lifestyle while increasing knowledge about the critical significance of disaster preparedness.
“This ‘Run for Resilience’ serves as a means to stronger connections within our communities,”Angot said, adding that a sense of unity and camaraderie was formed as they run side by side with the participants.
“We transform into a resilient and supportive network, prepared to face any adversity that may come our way. Run is a representation that we shall rise up, whatever the time, whatever the circumstances, in order to avoid disasters or mitigate its impact,” she added.
Engr. Amil Abubakar, Deputy Director-General of the Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority (BPDA), noted that storms and flooding have been major concerns for the Bangsamoro region in recent years.
“2022 has been the most not forgiving due to Super Typhoon Paeng, causing unimaginable damage to the lives and spirit of the Bangsamoro people; but six months after the devastation, we are slowly gaining our strength, to stand again and continue life as we know, and that is resiliency,” Abubakar shared.
The event concluded with the announcement of the winners: Ysmael Karon, Jr. (#159) from the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) secured the 1st prize, followed by Jordan Tanghinan (#023) from the 6th Civil Military Operation Battalion (CMOBn) and Datu Jordan Kadir (#107) from MILG who won the 2nd and 3rd prizes, respectively.
The winners received certificates and cash worth Php6,000.00, Php4,000.00, and Php2,000.00, respectively.
Spearheaded by the READi-BARMM, the ‘Run for Resilience’ activity was organized by the Bangsamoro Disaster Risk Reduction Council (BDRRC) in collaboration with the Office of Civil Defense Regional Office (OCDRO-BARMM). (Kasan Usop, Jr./BIO)
