Cebu City frat members get first responder skills training

The local government here has found a way to redirect the attention of fraternity and sorority members to becoming useful citizens, instead of engaging in violent initiations and inter-frat clashes.

Brig. Gen. Aderson Comar, a retired fire marshal who now heads the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), said instead of undergoing painful initiation through the paddle, the fraternity and sorority members will now have a 40-hour training to become responders in times of disasters.

Comar replaced former journalist Ramil Ayuman in the CDRRMO after the latter was appointed as assistant secretary for the Visayas of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The idea came from the members of the fraternity and sorority who wanted to form the Cebu Inter-Fraternity and Sorority Responders Group (CIFSRG).

Comar considered the formation of the group as a welcome development for fraternities and sororities, being the first-ever team-up of members of different groups as ready force multipliers in times of natural and man-made calamities.

“Sa nahiaguman nato human milampurnas ang bagyong Odette nato dinhi sa Sugbo, nakita nato ang dakong bili nga madugangan pa ang atong puwersa nga maka-abag nato panahon sa kalamidad ug dagkong disgrasya (In what we have experienced after Typhoon Odette hit us here in Cebu, we see the great value of adding more to our force to help us during disasters and major incidents),” Comar was quoted as saying in a statement from the Cebu City information office.

The former Cebu City fire marshal cited the CIFSRG as a potent group that can assist the CDRRMO in case it needs more hands, especially in emergency situations.

He said the administration of Mayor Michael Rama sees a good future in having fraternity and sorority members as first responders in the city, as the groups are now united in helping communities to recover from the effects of Typhoon Odette.

This week, 105 male and female aspirants to become part of the CIFSGR are undergoing a five-day training being conducted by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and Cebu City Fire Office (CCFO) at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).

This group comprises the second batch of applicants. Comar said there will be a third batch.

Lawyer Gerry Carillo, chair of the CDRRM Council, welcomed the formation of the inter-fraternity responders who could become models to other groups in making themselves useful citizens of the society.

Apart from an opportunity to choose a group, each successful trainee will receive a certificate of competency from the BFP, CCFO and the CDRRMO, he said.

“This is a great help to young people like us, especially now that what often happens is fire, so we can be of big help to our community,” 30-year-old Jessa Do, one of the trainees, said.

The training team headed by SFO2 Romeo Birao provided the applicants with basic firefighting skills, basic rope course, rescue technique and medical first responder skills.

Source: Philippines News Agency

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