Philippines: Tubod, Lanao Norte showcases earthquake readiness in NSED 2018

By Lady Jean Kabagani

The Municipality of Tubod, Lanao del Norte demonstrated its readiness against earthquakes as a result of this year's Second Quarter Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED).

During the drill, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 10 chose Tubod as the regional ceremonial venue for Northern Mindanao.

A fault line system has been identified in Tubod town and is considered as an earthquake high-risk area.

The June drill is the second for this year; the earlier drill was last February 15.

OCD Regional Director and RDRRMC Region 10 Chairperson Rosauro Arnel Gonzales, Jr. said that the drill aims to provide safety measures and instill public awareness on disaster preparedness.

“Yung drill is very important activity, firstly, we would like to really inculcate sa ating community yung attitude ng awareness at saka yung preparedness during disaster lalo na ‘dun sa vulnerable sectors na maging prepared sa earthquake - (The drill is a very important activity, firstly, we would really inculcate in our community the attitude of awareness and preparedness during disaster especially to the vulnerable sectors to be prepared for an earthquake),” Gonzales added.

It also aims to demonstrate disaster alertness of the local government and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC).

“Isa lang po yung pinopromote natin dito sa Nationwide simultaneous earthquake pagkakaroon ng earthquake drill is yung idemonstrate dito yung kakayahan ng ating local government unit at ng mga line agencies natin especially yung mga involved sa disaster response, - (There is only one thing we are promoting here in the Nationwide simultaneous earthquake drill, to demonstrate the capabilities of our local government unit and line agencies especially those who are involved in disaster response),” Gonzales highlighted during the drill.

He explained there is a need for the public to know that the government is capable of doing emergency response operations during the occurrence of earthquakes, “Aside from this, it will also show the people how the government is capable in responding during a disaster, gaining the confidence of the community and achieving a multiplier effect in the process.”

Based on OCD assessment, “I think we will able to achieve the outcome we want.” Gonzales believes that the results of drill have already met their agency's expectations. Drills that are held in schools can engage multiplier effect among children and youth, the people's awareness is expanding especially within the family.

He also underscored that the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) is capable of delivering response with complete resources such as ambulances, medical assistance and facilities that can be used during the occurrence of disaster.

“Kailangan makita ng mga tao ito, kailangan nilang makita kung gaano ka-capable ang government para magkroon sila ng confidence na 'pag nangyari yung earthquake na maisaisip nila na yung government ay kaya silang iligtas (People need to see this, to see how capable the government is so that they will have confidence in case earthquake will come that government can save them),” Gonzales said.

The activity aims to strengthen the inter-operability at all levels from the regional to provincial and local sectors as well as developing a common operational picture through information sharing during disaster management operations.

Gonzales added that the drill's highlight this year is strengthening incident command system by showcasing government's disaster response capacity through an immediate building of command post, organizing incident management team and response cluster.

Meanwhile, Mayor Leoncio C. Bagol lauds the presence of participating sectors for completing the 2nd Quarter nationwide simultaneous earthquake drill 2018 despite the bad weather.

“The earthquake drill is a big help to us by training us to be well-versed in disaster response. This could save lives since there is no way of knowing when a big earthquake can occur,” Mayor Bagol said.

The drill was able to demonstrate the impact of shakes based on Municipal Earthquake Impact Reduction Study, Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis, camp coordination, and management, rescue and retrieval operations, fire suppression, emergency medical response and management of the dead and missing.

In addition, Arnel Agabe, regional director of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Region 10 emphasized that there is a need to develop and simulate scenario-based preparedness as well as response plans and system that will make all sectors be prompt to uncertainties of disaster.

He also underlined some points that no one can predict when the disaster will happen, “we do not know if the weather affects earthquake occurrence, others say maybe some animals can tell, we heard stories of animals acting strange ahead of earthquakes and this dates even back to ancient Greece. But, let’s not wait for weird animal behavior to signal us that an earthquake is coming.”

Agabe urged the local leaders and the general public to initiate drills and other measures in order to be well-prepared and be equipped whenever earthquakes and other forms of natural disasters will hit any area.

“We really have no way of telling when it will happen, kaya dapat tayo ay laging handa (We really have no way of telling when it will happen, that is why we need to be always ready),” Agabe said in his speech.