Manual on how to handle crises awaits Aquino’s OK

Benigno Aquino III INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

BAGUIO CITY—Except for President Benigno Aquino III’s go-ahead for it to be issued as an executive order, a manual that would provide practical crisis management tips in handling terrorism, migrant workers, coastal borders, disaster risk management and energy is all but ready to roll out, according to the National Security Council (NSC).

NSC Assistant Director General Fernando Mesa and a team of experts discussed the new manual at the Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee meeting here Monday to establish a set of protocols that government units could adopt to address such pressing issues as the economic impact of increasing oil prices, the dispute over the Spratlys, the political developments arising from North Korea’s planned rocket launch,  as well as how to deal with OFWs affected by the political violence in Syria.

Mesa said the manual was the product of consultations with 29 government agencies and would require collaboration among the different local government units, local officials and law enforcers.  The protocols defined in the manual are similar to those set by the United States Federal Emergency Management Administration (Fema), he added. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon