BAYBAY CITY– More than 1,000 personnel from Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (LDRRM) Offices, along with volunteer responders from across Eastern Visayas and other parts of the country, are currently in Baybay City or the 2025 Regional Rescue Jamboree (RRJ) organized by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Eastern Visayas.
This year’s participants also include LDRRM teams from Iloilo, Palawan, Negros, and Pasig City, underscoring the event’s growing reputation as a premier training platform for disaster responders nationwide.
Anchored on the theme “Preparing as One, Responding as One: Strengthening Collaboration in Building Community Resiliency,” the week-long jamboree aims to enhance disaster preparedness, upgrade life-saving skills, and promote the exchange of best practices among emergency response teams.
OCD-8 Regional Director Lord Byron Torrecarion emphasized the importance of continuous training, particularly in high-risk regions prone to natural calamities like earthquakes, landslides, and typhoons.
“These are perishable skills. If not practiced regularly, they fade. That’s why training like this is crucial. What’s more, the knowledge gained here is transferable—it can be passed on to others in the community,” he said.
One of the key focus areas in this year’s RRJ is trauma care, which Torrecarion described as a vital skill during both peacetime emergencies and large-scale disasters.
“This is essential, especially during earthquakes and road accidents where massive trauma injuries are common,” he explained.
Robe Estillore, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer of Sogod, Southern Leyte, echoed this sentiment, stressing that trauma care should be a core competency for all first responders.
“When you talk about trauma, you need to provide intensive and comprehensive care. This training is vital for our rescuers,” Estillore said. Sogod has one of the largest delegations at the jamboree with 22 participants.
Estillore also underscored the importance of cascading these skills to the grassroots level: “What we learn here becomes more effective when shared with the youth and the broader community. Life-saving skills should be everyone’s responsibility.”
In addition to trauma care, the RRJ includes training and demonstrations on explosive ordnance disposal (EOD); hazardous material (HazMat) awareness; road safety and motorcycle response capabilities; interoperability in radio communication; air-to-ground operations; collapsed structure search and rescue; high-angle rope rescue; water and mountain search and rescue; and map reading and navigation.
Baybay City Mayor Jose Carlos Cari welcomed the delegates and expressed hope that the RRJ will not only enhance rescue capabilities but also foster stronger inter-LGU collaboration in both disaster response and mitigation efforts.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
