Humanitarian organization Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and Lopez-led economic zone developer First Philippine Industrial Park Inc. (FPIP) have agreed on a joint project to organize in Tanauan City, Batangas, volunteers who will be trained to respond rapidly to emergencies and disasters.
The PRC, through its Batangas Chapter Administrator Ronald G. Generoso, and FPIP, through Vice President Ricky Carandang, signed recently a service agreement for the implementation of their joint project, which also aims to strengthen the country’s disaster risk reduction and management system.
Under the agreement, both parties agree to help each other in mobilizing grassroots-level volunteers who will train and familiarize themselves with PRC programs, in particular, with the Red Cross 143 Program (RC143).
Red Cross created RC143 to build community resilience where RC143 volunteers—composed of one leader and 43 members—serve as the eyes, ears, hands, and feet of the PRC.
The program aims to promote a culture of self-help in schools, workplaces, and communities by developing a network of Red Cross volunteers who will prepare for disasters and respond rapidly to emergencies.
Under the service agreement, the PRC through its chapter in Batangas, has committed to assume a number of responsibilities, like the recruitment and training of volunteers and monitoring their progress under RC143.
FPIP, for its part, has committed to assume a number of responsibilities, such as providing financial and logistical help for PRC training programs activities; assigning local persons from the FPIP administration to assist PRC; and supporting PRC’s recruitment, as well as PRC’s other activities like mass blood donation drives and annual fund campaigns.
Under Republic Act No. 10072, PRC assumes the role of an independent, autonomous non-government organization auxiliary arm of the government. Its goals include the integration into sustainable development policies and planning of disaster risk reduction, universal healthcare, emergency responses and volunteerism; and the development and strengthening of institutions, mechanism, and capacities to build resilience to hazards.
FPIP is a subsidiary of Lopez-controlled First Philippine Holdings Corporation, one of the oldest and biggest conglomerates in the country.
Together with Japanese partner Sumitomo Corporation, FPH established FPIP as a world-class location for global manufacturers and traders, as well as a platform for creating jobs for ordinary Filipinos and tax revenues for the government.
The 520-hectare ecozone, which straddles the host cities of Tanauan and Santo Tomas in Batangas, now provides employment for almost 80,000 Filipinos, aside from generating hundreds of millions of pesos in tax revenues for both cities.
