Pototan: Various local disaster risk reduction and management councils (LDRRMCs) from Western Visayas and Negros Occidental will showcase their operational readiness during the Regional Rescuelympics 2025 in Pototan, Iloilo on Aug. 24 and 25. The event is organized by the Office of the Civil Defense in Western Visayas (OCD-6) in collaboration with the provincial and the municipal governments.
According to Philippines News Agency, Alfonso Baldonado III, chief of the administrative and training division of the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO), stated that the Rescuelympics teams will compete in water and collapsed structure search and rescue (SAR), vehicle extraction, communication component, and air to ground operations. "The best of the best per province will showcase their skill sets when it comes to our categories," he said.
Before the competitions, there will be breakout sessions to provide updates on best practices, new technologies, and evolving techniques to participating local DRRM councils. Baldonado emphasized that the event will test the training of responders in terms of interoperability since they will come from various municipalities. "Their training will be tested, so that they can interoperate and be multifunctional. We are having the incident command system. That is why it is really a test of whether our responders can harmonize their training when it comes to a case-by-case situation," he explained.
In the case of Iloilo DRRMO, Baldonado mentioned that its 15-man team is a combination of responders from Pavia, Tigbauan, Carles, and Passi City. Earlier, OCD-6 Director Raul Fernandez issued Memorandum No. 50 enjoining stakeholder support for the event. Fernandez noted, "Western Visayas is prone to various natural and human-induced hazards. In recognition of this, and the critical importance of robust SAR operations, the Rescuelympics will serve as a vital platform for knowledge sharing, practical skills demonstration, fostering camaraderie, and showcasing resources among regional rescue teams, particularly at the local levels."
