Disaster council conducts simultaneous earthquake drill

ANGAT, Bulacan -- To test the preparedness of the municipalities and the awareness of the people in responding to a magnitude 7.2 earthquake scenario, the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) through the Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-Central Luzon conducted on Thursday its first quarter Nationwide Simultaneous

Earthquake Drill (NSED).

Rosalia Fabrigar, operations section chief of the OCD-Central Luzon, said the ceremonial program was conducted at Barangay Sto. Cristo, Angat Bulacan at 2 p.m. in in coordination with the Bulacan Provincial DRRM Council headed by Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado, other local

DRRM councils and members of the RDRRMC.

“We are regularly conducting the earthquake drill to test the effectiveness of the existing contingency plan of the municipalities as well as their warning, communication and evacuation system. It also aims to strengthen the coordination among government agencies and other stakeholders,” Fabrigar said.

Some 300 individuals participated in the drill. The activity had the scenario of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake resulting to the Angat Dam break and collapse of buildings halting the operations of various establishments where at least 12 municipalities in Bulacan, namely Norzagaray, Angat, Bustos, Baliwag, San Rafael, Pulilan, Plaridel, Calumpit, Paombong, Hagonoy, City Of San Jose Del Monte, and Doña Remedios Trinidad were affected.

Local drills will also be conducted in other parts of the region not greatly affected by the scenario. Section seven of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the RA 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Act of 2010 states that “public awareness shall also be undertaken through the conduct of drills by the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office on a regular basis.”

Local government units are also expected to be at the frontline of emergency measures in the aftermath of disasters to ensure the general welfare of its constituents, according to the Local Government Code of 1991.

The RDRRMC3 has scheduled the quarterly conduct of NSED in the region. The next simultaneous drill will be held in Guagua, Pampanga on June 2019, Casiguran and Dinalungan, Aurora on August, and Mariveles, Bataan and Iba, Zambales area on November 2019. (PR)