ILOILO CITY — Mayor Raisa Treñas sat down with a group of wide‑eyed children at Festive Walk Mall on July 2, 2026, opened a storybook, and began to read. The launch of the DRR Alphabet and Resilience Storybook turned the serious business of disaster readiness into a morning of laughter, imagination, and quiet learning.
A Mayor’s Storytime
The mayor chose “Donna and the Dust Mites” for her reading, a tale written by Public Information Officer Lucy Sinay. The story follows a little girl who skips cleaning her room while her friends finish their chores. After a nightmare in which dust mites attack, Donna wakes up with a fresh understanding of why tidiness matters.
The children listened with rapt attention, gasping at the scary parts and giggling when Donna finally grabbed her broom. Treñas wove in small lessons about how a clean home keeps a family safe from sickness and hazards. It was storytelling as gentle persuasion, not a lecture, and the children responded with eager nods and questions.
The Little Book with Big Lessons
The DRR Alphabet and Resilience Storybook is a collection of simple narratives that introduce disaster preparedness concepts to very young learners. Each letter of the alphabet connects to a safety habit—A for Alert, C for Clean, E for Earthquake drill—making the information stick through rhythm and repetition. The books use local settings and characters so that children see themselves in every page.
Accompanying the storybook, the children themselves presented the DRR Alphabet, reciting key words and actions they had already mastered. Their voices filled the mall atrium, proud and confident. The exercise proved that preparedness can be playful, that knowing what to do when the ground shakes can feel as natural as knowing a nursery rhyme.
Teaching Preparedness Through Play
The event drew young students from Early Childhood Care and Development centers in San Isidro (Jaro), Ortiz (City Proper), Katilingban (Molo), and PHHC Block 22 (Mandurriao). Each center brought a small delegation of learners who had been practicing the DRR Alphabet for weeks. Their teachers watched from the side, mouthing the words along with them.
Regional Director Raul Fernandez of the Office of Civil Defense Region VI underscored the importance of starting disaster education early. He told the gathering that resilient communities are built one child at a time, and that stories are among the most powerful tools for shaping lifelong habits. His presence signaled that the event was not just a city program but part of a national push for grassroots preparedness.
A Collaboration of Government and Community
The materials were developed through the joint efforts of the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and the Social Advocacy and Community Engagement Office of the University of San Agustin. Their teams spent months crafting age‑appropriate content that balances scientific accuracy with the warmth of a picture book. The result is a resource that can be used in day care centers, living rooms, and barangay learning hubs.
The event also served as the official kickoff for Iloilo City’s month‑long observance of National Disaster Resilience Month. It set the tone with a focus on the youngest Ilonggos, a reminder that a culture of preparedness is not inherited but taught, one story at a time.
