By Jennifer P. Rendon
[...]
For this year’s first quarter Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED), Iloilo City served as the pilot site in a ceremonial pressing of the button at the Iloilo Dinagyang Grandstand.
[...]
The government-run network, RTVM, posted that the quarterly drill, which uses a magnitude 8 ground shaking scenario, highlights the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (ICDRRMC) campaign, dubbed ‘KABALAKA’ (KAhublagan sa BArangay para sa LApnagon nga KAhandaan sa KAlamidad).
‘KABALAKA’ aims to demonstrate “its community preparedness and the implementation and usefulness of its preparedness and response plans, systems and policies, including the inter-operability of the response clusters and various stakeholders as embodied in the response plan and protocols.”
[...]
“With the conduct of this drill we are empowering our people not to be victims of disasters but rather resilient survivors,” [Undersecretary Reynaldo Mapagu of Civil, Veterans and Retiree Affairs at the Department of National Defense] said.
[...]