After eight months of hard work, UP Cebu turned over the first standby-well and community-based firefighting facility in Cebu City in Brgy. Hipodromo last December 12. This was made possible through the Installation of Standby Wells for Emergencies and Research (ISWEAR) project, funded by the Department of Science and Technology Region VII. The project aims to provide water supply during emergencies and protect the country’s valuable natural resources.
Cebu City Councilor and Chairperson of the City Council’s Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction Management, Hon. Joel Garganera introduced the collaborative effort between the Cebu City government, UP Cebu, and DOST to make this project possible. He emphasized the importance of water in emergency situations like fire and drought. He donated the generator set to ensure the facility could still be used without electricity.
Atty. Leo Malagar, UP Cebu Chancellor; Dr. Jonnifer Sinogaya, ISWEaR Project Leader; and Engr. Adrian D. Cruz, DOST Cebu Provincial Director, handed over the commemorative marker for the standby well to Brgy. Captain Ruperto Bacolod with Hon. Garganera.
Brgy. Capt. Ruperto B. Bacolod Jr., in his acceptance speech, expressed his happiness that Hipodromo was chosen to be the pilot barangay out of the 80 barangays in Cebu City. He wishes to replicate the same facility in different areas of the barangay. He is also hopeful that other barangays in Cebu City will follow through. For his part, Councilor Garganera also pledged to replicate the same facility all over Cebu City.
Hipodromo is also one of the 10 partner barangays for the FireCheck 2.0 project. FireCheck 2.0 is an urban fire hazard mapping and investment planning project covering fire-prone Cebu. It intends to produce fire hazard maps, neighborhood evacuation plans, and firefighting investment plans in cooperation with local disaster risk offices and fire stations.
Also present during the event were Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office Assistant Head Dexter Tudtud and Inspector Pier Angelo Abellana from the Cebu City Fire Station.
In solidarity with Cebu City, the Lapulapu City DRRM office also sent Mr. Julian Pongasi III, a DRR responder and veteran firefighter, who trained the Hipodromo barangay tanods and volunteers on how to use the facility, especially during crises effectively. He also shared the positive experiences of the community-managed firefighting facilities in Lapu-Lapu City, which currently have 22 standby wells in operation. Lapulapu City is also eyeing the installation of additional structures on 35 new sites.
The community-based fire-fighting facility is modeled after the Lapulapu City standby wells, which were put up in key barangays based on the urban fire hazard maps produced by the erstwhile DOST-supported Firecheck project.