A high-ranking official of the Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) rates Davao City’s security and cluster simulation exercise (simex) 7.5 out of 10, saying there is room for improvement.
“Nasa sa 7.5 to 8 [out of 10] ang pag-execute (The execution rate is about 7.5 to 8 out of 10), kung i-perfect man gud nato lisod (It’s hard to say we perfected it), and I think there is no such thing nga pag-abot sa execution ng mga security and safety plan na 100 percent kahit papaano naay mga glitches gyud na siya, diha pud nato i-focus kung unsa na siya [setbacks] (that we will be able to execute the security and safety plan at 100 percent because there will really glitches along the way which we are going to focus),” Col. Angel Sumagaysay said in an interview with the Davao City Disaster Radio on September 28, 2022.
Sumagaysay said that there were setbacks in the communication pathways of the various security units during the inter-operational response.
“‘Yong communication from the ground to the team leader medyo naglisod kay nagadagan-dagan pa (there were communication difficulties between the team leader and those on the ground), supposed to be, we are to use the communication radios... mga observation na dapat kong i-correct talaga lalo na sa Incident Management Team (IMT) yong nag-oversee ng activities (Based on our observations, there are things we need to correct, especially that of the IMT),” Sumagaysay said in an interview with SunStar Davao.
Sumagaysay said there is an area where the IMT is stationed where radio operators have to be calm and collected.
“Nakalingkod lang [dapat] ang mga radio operators para at least ang communication from the ground dire-diretso then ma-feed doon sa Emergency Operator Center (They should just be sitting so that when information comes from the ground units, it will be cascaded properly to the Emergency Operator Center),” Sumagaysay said.
But overall, Sumagaysay said the simex was successful.
“Considering ang mga scenarios (the scenarios) are very complicated. At least na-perform ng atoang mga respondents, security, and safety (our respondents were able to execute it properly). Nagpasalamat pud me sa participation ng community (We also thank the participation of the community), Department of Education Region 11, and Davao City National High School (DCNHS),” Sumagaysay said.
On September 27, 2022, PSSC conducted a simex of bomb-throwing, shooting, and hostage-taking that lasted for more than two hours. The simex was held at the DCNHS from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
According to City Information Office (CIO), 222 personnel were deployed from the Task Force Davao, Davao City Police Office, Tactical Operations Wing Eastern Mindanao, Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao, Joint Special Operations Group, Davao City Police Office SWAT, Special Action Force, Bureau of Fire Protection-Davao, Davao 911, Davao City Public Safety and Security Command Center, City Social Welfare and Development Office, Davao City National High School, and the Department of Education-Davao.
Over 20 units of the city’s mobility assets like fire trucks, ambulances, and rescue trucks, were also deployed during the simex.
PSSCC said Davao City Mayor Sebastian Z. Duterte chaired the Incident Command Post with team leaders and commanders from the different participating units. KSD