QUAKE simulations during a nationwide drill on June 22 sent millions of people outside Metro Manila fleeing high-rise buildings, ducking for cover under desks and seeking shelter in open spaces where first aid tents and responders await.
In the province of Bohol, however, the drill was a reminder of the real thing—a 7.2-magnitude quake on Oct. 15, 2013, that killed at least 200 people.
When the alarm for the drill rang at 9 a.m. in Tagbilaran City, the Bohol capital, on June 22, 16-year-old Junmark Tasic was among at least 400 high school students who quickly dropped on the ground and took cover, awaiting instruction from their teachers.
For Tasic, the drill was a stark reminder of the 2013 quake and the need to be prepared.
“I could not forget what happened at that time because I panicked,” he said
Tasic recalled just running to higher ground when the quake struck.
Roniel Villanueva, schoolmate of Tasic, said during the 2013 quake, he didn’t know what to do.
Villanueva said he just cried, ran to his parents and siblings, and hugged them.
The drill, he said, offered lessons he would remember. He said he now knows the importance of preparedness. “No one knows when it (quake) will hit us,” he said.
Work disrupted
In Tacloban City, work at the city hall stopped for at least two hours as hundreds of employees left their desks for the drill.
“The challenge we have with an earthquake is that we cannot prevent it and we cannot predict it,” said Edgar Posadas, head of the Office of Civil Defense in Eastern Visayas.
In Bulacan, the drill became an eye-opener of sorts on the province’s internet challenges.
As the drill progressed, two areas—San Jose del Monte City and Donya Remedios Trinidad—failed to immediately transmit details of the drills to the provincial disaster coordinating council because of poor internet signal.
The importance of the drill was most pronounced in at least two villages in Norzagaray town which hosts two dams—Angat and Ipo. The San Lorenzo and San Mateo villages, where the dams are, have 104,000 residents who are classified as highly vulnerable if a 7.2-magnitude quake strikes.
In Pangasinan province, the drill blew the lid off a problem that a high school faces in case the Big One strikes. Open spaces, which are needed as evacuation sites during strong quakes, have been reduced because of a growing student population at the Dagupan City National High School.
“The students are crowding in narrow spaces,” said Ronald de Guzman, head of the disaster risk reduction and management office of Dagupan.
The drill, he said, was valuable for the students. “I think the level of awareness is now higher,” he said.
Welcome interruption
In areas in Southern Luzon, the drill was a welcome interruption to the routine of groups that took part in it.
Henry Buzar, disaster risk reduction and management officer of Quezon province, said he believed the drill was able to achieve its target—to instill preparedness in people’s minds.
Buzar said the safety protocols should become a “habit or first instinct” of people “because it could mean life or death for all of us.”
The lack of preparedness, he said, was what prevailed in February when Quezon was hit by a 5.2-magnitude quake that was quickly followed by false reports about a tsunami. Because people did not know what to do, they just panicked, he said.
In Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro province, officials have barely finished with the June 22 drill when they started preparing for more drills in July, which is disaster consciousness month.
In Ligao City, Albay province, the drill went on without any hitches except for the case of a Grade 8 student who fainted in the middle of the drill.
The student, according to her teacher, collapsed because of extreme heat.
Officials of the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region said more than a million people took part in the drill.
Vicente Tomazar, regional disaster risk reduction and management director, said the level of participation was highest in areas that are on or near the West Valley fault line—the cities of Calamba, Biñan and San Pedro in Laguna province; the towns of Carmona, Silang and General Mariano Alvarez in Cavite province, and the town of Angono in Rizal province.
Key to survival
Tomazar said the key to survival during powerful quakes and other disasters is communication.
In Southern Mindanao, Liza Mazo, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) director, said the high number of participants in the drill “raised the confidence of OCD” in responding to emergencies.
In Davao City, the capability of an emergency response system that incoming President Rodrigo Duterte had put in place was again tested and proven. Leo Udtohan and Joey A. Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas; Karlos Manlupig with Judy Quiros, Inquirer Mindanao; Maricar Cinco, Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Michael B. Jaucian and Madonna T. Virola, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon; and Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon