Welcoming the 2012 Gawad KALASAG Regional Evaluators

     For the first time and due to the prodding of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Balete participates to the 2012 Gawad KALASAG Regional Search.  It is an annual program initiated by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in search for excellence in disaster risk management and humanitarian assistance at the local level. KALASAG is a tagalog word meaning "shield" and the NDRRMC used it as an acronym to stand for KAlamidad at sakuna LAbanan, SAriling Galing at kaligtasan. Gawad KALASAG  was therefore conceived to protect or shield high risk communities against hazards by encouraging participation of various stakeholders designing and implementing Disaster Risk Management (DRM) programs. The search is staged to recognize outstanding performance and local initiatives.

   The 2012 Regional Evaluation for 2011 DRRMC performance is set today, June 21, 2012, at the Sangguniang Bayan Session Hall. The municipal DRRMC welcomed the team of evaluators from the various regional government agencies with these kind words:

Good morning!

Allow me to take you to a brief excursion into the historic past of our humble town. 

·         Balete was established in 1804 with a population of 3,089 souls.

·         We were then one of the 33 pueblos of the provincia de Capiz.

·         Today, we have grown into some 28,118 Baleten-ons spread out in more or less 11,760 hectares of mostly hilly and mountainous land.

·         Our population density ratio is two persons for every hectare. 

·         We are blessed with several waterways, the biggest of which is the Jal-o River. It winds through 8 of the ten constituents barangays of Balete and empties into Batan Bay

·         We are an agricultural community and most of our people derived their livelihood from farming, handicrafts, carpentry and other menial jobs. Our unemployment rate is at 5.6% although the poverty incidence is recorded at 46%.

·         We are a hospitable, fun-loving, God-fearing people. Contrary to folk beliefs, there are no White Ladies in Balete. What we have are Fair Ladies.

·         There are no tourist destinations in our town, although we do have a lot of attractions.

·         We have had our shares of woes and wailings: the worst being thecholera outbreak of 1882. History tells us that some 144 Baleten-ons succumbed to death at the heights of the pestilence. Precisely, that our forebears invoked the intervention of St. Rafael the Archangel, patron of healers andtravelers in the road of life.

·         Our folks used to tell of Typhoon Ogis that can even upturn coconut shells lying in the ground.

·         Then we remember the 9-month drought of 1983 which was followed up by Undang in 1984.

·         The earthquake of 1991 was also remarkable for having sent to ruins much of the old buildings in Balete, the old church of St. Rafael, included.

·         Typhoon Frank in June 23, 2008 passed us by and just uprooted a century-old Thick Tree in our town plaza.

What is phenomenal however was the historic swelling of the Jal-o River in middle of November of last year. With Pag-asa forecasting just a low pressure activity in the area, the flash flood took us by surprise and caused much damaged on our property and enterprises. Fortunately, our people were saved from the clutches of death. (The reported death of an individual was due to a landslide in Barangay Feliciano)

So we take it as the sign of the time; a wakeup call for us to take the bull by its horns.  Despite our meager resources, we converge to make most of the littlethat we have. The old Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council was reorganized to make for the dynamic Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council. The Sangguniang Bayan took aim to revise the 2004 Municipal Environment Code while in the mean time declared a 5-year moratorium on charcoal making in the entire municipality.  Balete PNP and DepED Balete separately initiated tree planting activities within the Jal-o watershed. Other agencies and civil society organizations did their share, however small they seem, for us to approximate the emergence of an ecologically-balanced and enchanting Balete.

Yes, we are enchanting Balete. We have been honored, though poor that we are, by the National Government, when it conferred unto us, for two consecutive years now, the Seal of Good Housekeeping Award. Now, albeit the outcome of this KALASAG evaluation, your presence here today adds up to the feathers in our cap. Precisely, that despite the short notice, we welcome you with open arms. With Mayor Bobby Calizo and the rest of the municipal officials and the people of Balete, allow me therefore to officially welcome all of you today.