THE Philippine Ports Authority, through its Port Management Office (PMO) of Zamboanga City, is set to conduct a fire drill on Thursday, June 9, to determine the preparedness of the port community in handling a contingent event such as fire breakout in the facility.
Engineer Liberto Dela Rosa, Zamboanga port manager, said the fire drill is one of the major commitments of his office based on its mandate to continually improve Baseport services, especially in areas of Port Safety, Health and Environment.
Dela Rosa said the fire drill serves as a test and an evaluation of the port community’s competency in managing a crisis. The drill is being conducted annually.
He said that a fire breakout is only one among the many contingent scenarios that the port facility may be confronted with.
Other contingent events include natural calamity such as typhoon and flooding, earthquake and tsunami, as well as man-made disasters that include bombing, fire breakouts, and hostage situations, among many others, according to Dela Rosa.
He said the fire drill will be held in collaboration with government agencies that include the Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Customs, Office of the Civil Defense, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Task Force Zamboanga, Philippine Coastguard, Police Maritime Group.
Port stakeholders such as various shipping firms, the Zamboanga City Integrated Port Services, Inc and other port ancillary services providers will be participating in the fire drill.
Two other types of drills on earthquake and tsunami are also scheduled to be held in the coming months. (Bong Garcia)