(PAGASA 24-HOUR PUBLIC WEATHER FORECAST as of Wednesday, 27 March 2024) Easterlies affecting the eastern section of the country. Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur will experience Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms due to Easterlies / Localized Thunderstorms. Possible flash floods or landslides during severe thunderstorms.


Saturday, June 13, 2015

European humanitarian aid agency supports project SURGE in Surigao Norte

By John Glenn A. Platil

SURIGAO CITY, Surigao del Norte, June 13 (PIA) – Representatives from the European Commission on Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection and Oxfam signify strong support to the provincial government in the implementation of project SURGE (Scaling Up Resilence in Governance) during the joint meeting of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) and City DRRMC held recently at the PGO New Conference Hall, this city.

Mercy Alidri of Oxfam Uganda explained the sincere desire of Oxfam to support the province in line with the project SURGE which was launched early on by Oxfam.

She narrated that on June 1, her team went to Barangay Karihatag in the municipality of Malimono as part of their community immersion activities.

She added that they were able to teach the community on how to cope up with disasters and scale up to other places. She also said that her group wants to get champions, especially those who have technical knowledge.

Moreover, Alidri affirmed that there is a need to mobilize Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), on how to adequately support them, with a special focus on women and children for disaster planning and management.

Meanwhile, Arlynn Aquino of the European Commission on Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection thanked Governor Matugas for inviting them. She said that as a strong partner of the said project, disaster preparedness, response and mitigation are special concerns and interests shared by exemplars and champions to showcase extraordinary resilience.

Gilbert Gonzales of Oxfam Philippines, Ricky Senoc and Ann Ria Barrera of People's Disaster Risk Reduction Network (PDRRN) were also there to demonstrate their support in the call to prepare for the 'Big One.'

On her part, Governor Matugas thanked Oxfam for helping the provincial government in many ways. She said that the people should work together to make the province more progressive and effectively address climate change which is part of the academe's concern.

“By putting emphasis on education to sustain our efforts, we now shifted our focus on making our schools child-friendly by helping the young learners understand what is happening,” the lady governor said. In addition, she also noted that the media is focusing on a giant earthquake, dubbed as 'the Big One.'  She said that the provincial command is now studying where the major fault lines are located.

Governor Matugas stressed the importance of becoming champions in making partners to connect with other organizations and understand what disaster resilience is all about.


She said that she wants the children to understand what resilience got to do with their lives. She also described barangay Karihatag in the municipality of Malimono as one of the best diving sites, which has a big potential to grow in terms of tourism. (SDR/PIC-Surigao del Norte/PIA-Surigao del Norte)