On November 11, 2022, Xavier University witnessed the inking of the partnership between Iligan City, Aboitiz Foundation, Pilmico Foods Corporation, Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation, and the National Resilience Council (NRC) for a three-year partnership towards building a disaster- and climate-resilient city in Mindanao. As the primary academic partner of NRC in its Resilient LGU Program (RLGUP) in Cagayan de Oro, Xavier University, led by its Vice President for Social Development Engr Dexter Lo, was present at the MOU signing to show its support for the new Adopt-A-City LGU and NRC Academic Partner in Mindanao.
MOU Signing for the Adopt-A-City Program between Iligan City and Aboitiz Foundation, Pilmico Foods Corporation, Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation, and the National Resilience Council (NRC).
The partnership is part of NRC’s Adopt-A-City program, an innovative pathway for businesses to collaborate directly with local governments, academic partners, civil society organizations, and communities in transforming local climate and disaster risk landscapes. The three-year program includes tracks in Leadership & Governance (L&G) and Science & Technology (S&T) to guide and empower the City Government of Iligan in developing and implementing scientific and technology-based plans, policies, and systems to make their city resilient.
Engr. Gail de la Rita, Director for XU-Service Learning Program, and XU focal person for the Leadership and Governance track, presented the resilient government framework.
During the MOU ceremonial signing, Engr. Gail de la Rita, the XU focal person for the Leadership and Governance track, presented the resilient government framework and NRC Resilient Local Government Systems Scorecard. She emphasized the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration in the strengthening of communities’ resilience to disasters. XU also co-facilitated with MSU-IIT the work planning session held in the afternoon, wherein members of the Local DRRM Council were in attendance to help Mayor Fred Siao put his resilience vision into action.
As part of the preparatory works, NRC, XU, Pilmico, and Aboitiz also held a meeting and work planning session with selected faculty and administrators of MSU-IIT on November 10, 2022. The goal of this session is to introduce the different parties of the partnership and discuss the framework for academic engagement. In this session, Engr Jeff Vallente Jr, Alternate for Science and Technology track, also shared XU’s experience as the academic partner of the LGU of Cagayan de Oro in the NRC Resilient LGU Program. In particular, he presented the story of the development of Web-based Geospatial Risk Database (Web-GRiD) for COVID-19, a decision support tool and training program that enhances local decision support systems by providing both temporal and spatial situational awareness. Web-GRiD is one concrete product of the collaboration between the academe and LGU.
Engr. Jefferson Vallente Jr, Faculty from the College of Engineering and Alternat for the RLGUP Science and Technology Track, shares XU experience as academic partner in the Resilient LGU Program for Cagayan de Oro City.