Albay to send off disaster response team to Batangas

LEGAZPI CITY — The Bicol Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) will send off on Sunday afternoon a disaster response group to assist disaster responders in Batangas province where most towns were affected by the recent Taal volcano eruption.

The One Bicol Emergency Response Team (OBERT), composed of 102 local disaster responders, was organized by the RDRRMC and would leave for Batangas at around 1 p.m., said Marygizelle Mesa Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Bicol spokesperson.

The hundreds of OBERT responders will be onboard 16 vehicles and will be accompanied by trucks, including a water lorry, travelling in a caravan through 427 kilometers of Maharlika highway, Mesa said.

A send-off ceremony would be officiated by Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal, and regional directors Claudio Yucot, RDRRMC and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Bicol, and Arnel Garcia, DSWD Bicol, at Police Camp Simeon Ola here.

Mesa said the Bicol response team who would stay in Batangas for a week and would assist in the conduct of disaster camp management, psychological first aid and water and sanitation and hygiene.