INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — As the country observes National Disaster Consciousness Month, multi-hazard drills are to be held in public schools nationwide on Wednesday to help the authorities assess schools on various factors that could either render students vulnerable or help ensure their safety in times of disaster.
In a Department of Education memorandum, Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Alberto Muyot said all public schools nationwide are to update their hazard maps and risk assessments to ensure the safety of all students should disaster strike.
They are to indicate, according to the memorandum, “various presence of physical threats which may have direct or indirect effect to the school operations and learners’ performance.”
The memorandum also encouraged all DepEd offices as well as public and private schools to take part in the nationwide simultaneous multi-hazard drills for National Disaster Consciousness Month, whose theme this year is: “Kahandaan ng Pamayanan, Pundasyon ng Kaunlaran” (Community preparedness, foundation of progress).
The multi-hazard drills are to be conducted in close coordination with the local disaster risk reduction and management councils where the schools are located.
DepEd Assistant Secretary for Planning Jesus Mateo told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the focus of each drill would depend on the location of the school. “In Metro Manila, for example, the drills conducted in the schools will focus more on a major earthquake scenario and its possible consequence — fires,” he said.
Mateo added that the drills are multi-hazard to make sure that schools are prepared for any calamity and that both the schools and their students are made aware of disaster risks.
The activity, he said, would assess the capacity of the schools to manage emergencies.
On the other hand, he said, the school hazard mapping and risk assessment are conducted and annually updated taking into consideration the deterioration of buildings.
Mateo explained that all physical threats that could aggravate the risk to the students’ safety when a disaster occurs are identified in the maps so they can be appropriately addressed.
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