COINCIDING with third quarter National Simultaneous Earthquake Drill of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the Cordillera DRRMC is set to conduct two drills in Lamut, Ifugao at 2 p.m. on Thursday, August 8, simultaneous with Baguio City.
Commodore Albert Mogol, Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) Cordillera director and CDRRMC chairperson, said the conduct of the earthquake drill in Baguio would serve as a model for the different provinces to emulate following the creation of an Earthquake Disaster Preparedness Plan.
“Mayor Benjamin Magalong wants Baguio City to have a similar scenario during the July 16, 1990 earthquake. This is needed because the end state here is to come up with an earthquake disaster preparedness plan for Baguio City and all agencies of government in the region,” Mogol said.
“Once we have created the Baguio City comprehensive earthquake disaster preparedness plan, this would now serve as a template for all provinces in the region as a model. Twenty – nine years after the July 16, 1990 experience, we now have undergone various trainings and advancement in equipment and because Baguio City is the most highly urbanized City in the Cordillera just like Metro Manila who made their own model, it is very vital that we have to be prepared for this eventuality,” Mogol said.
OCD-CAR notes Metro Manila’s template on earthquake preparedness was based on areas that will be affected because of the various major fault lines.
“The convergence of all agencies, civil society and all groups in the community to be one is very important in times of disasters. Convergence plus good governance equals resilience communities,” Mogol added.
In Baguio City, one of the latest equipment to be used is the life detecting machine within 10 to 12 meters in collapsed structures aside from other technologies which would help save the lives of victims during such disasters.