To effectively manage the recent surge of Covid-19 cases and address other crises and emergency situations in the Province of Iloilo, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. instituted a program dubbed Provincial Civil Defense Service of Iloilo (ProCiD Serv Iloilo).
He, likewise, institutionalized the Provincial Civil Defense Cluster (ProCiD Cluster) and named Provincial Administrator Suzette Mamon as the Provincial Civil Defense Officer and the cluster’s head.
In issuing Executive Order No. 173 dated 26 May 2021, Defensor established the Provincial Civil Defense Operations Center (ProCiD OpCen) and the Provincial Civil Defense Force (ProCiD Force).
The governor, however, clarified that the program’s thrust is not limited to managing the Covid-19 pandemic but will also focus on disaster risk reduction and management, public safety, peace and order, disease control and prevention, climate change response, and environmental crime prevention.
ProCiD Serv Iloilo will also serve as a platform for a coordinated and integrated planning on civil defense implementations and operations, in partnership with other government organizations and the civil society.
“This is not a new program because our Civil Defense Cluster has been functioning already. We are just institutionalizing it with an executive order,” Defensor clarified.
The ProCiD Force, meanwhile, will serve as the frontline field responder in civil defense programs implementation and operations.
These include Bantay Dalan Task Force, Bantay Dagat Task Force, Tanum Iloilo, Limpyo Iloilo, Task Force PAG-ASA, Task Force Anti-Dengue, Road Safety Task Force, Smoke-free Task Force, Task Force El Niño and Task Force La Niña, among others.
The ProCiD OpCen, on the other hand, will have the following core functions – data, information and communication management; alert and monitoring; operational coordination; resource mobilization; and such other functions vital in civil defense operations.
“With this, we are adopting the concept of civil defense by expanding the scope of disaster risk reduction and management,” Defensor said./PN
