STUDENTS and residents join an earthquake drill in Baguio City but disaster response officials lament their lackluster response. EV ESPIRITU / INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON
The nationwide simultaneous earthquake drill this year will not have prepositioned assets for the first time, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Thursday.
“One of the highlights is the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will be in a ‘microscope’ because they will be starting the exercise from zero,” said Mina Marasigan, spokesperson of OCD.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, together with the MMDA, will hold the second quarter nationwide simultaneous earthquake drill on June 22.
The on-site operations center will be set up at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
“As part of the nationwide campaign, Metro Manila will be participating and the highlight will be ipapakita capability nila, na talagang walang naka preposition. Kunyari talagang nangyari ‘yun, may mga scenarios,” Marasigan said.
(As part of the nationwide campaign, Metro Manila will be participating and the highlight will be a showcase of their capabilities where there will be no prepositioned assets. It will seem like a real-life scenario.)
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As an example, one of the scenarios would include the collapse of the Guadalupe Bridge.
“Announced naman ang drill, titingnan lang mga reaction ng mga tao. So ang makikita, gaano katagal magdala ang MMDA sa staging area,” she explained.
(The drill is announced, so we will just see the people’s reaction. We will see how long it will take the MMDA to bring people to the staging area.)
READ: Earthquake drill fails to shake Baguio folk
“Ang imporant aspect ng exercise would be to ensure ‘yung interoperability, ensure na na-practice yung protocols. And of course ‘yung scenario natin, ienjoin natin is Greater Metro Manila, hindi lang Metro Manila. So is Bulacan, Laguna, mga ‘yun, mag exercise din sila. This is a nationwide initiative, may mga pilot areas tayo sa different regions also,” she also said.
(The important aspect of the exercise would be to ensure the interoperability, that we practice the protocols. We also want to enjoin Greater Metro Manila and not just Metro Manila in the scenarios. That means the likes of Bulacan and Laguna will have to join the exercise. This is a nationwide initiative and we will have pilot areas in different regions.) IDL/rga