BY RHENJIE MARIE CALANTAS
ILOILO – The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 6, in partnership with the local government unit (LGU) of Pavia and Philippine Red Cross Iloilo Chapter, piloted the 2nd Quarter Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) in Pavia town yesterday.
Prior to the drill, a ceremonial pressing of button was spearheaded by Romel Jamerlan of the Pavia Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) and evaluators to signal the start of the drill.
Pavia Municipal Hall, Sta. Monica Catechetical Learning Center and Barangay Purok II served as the three ceremonial sites for the Q2 NSED. Participating LGU workers, pupils and residents performed the “duck, cover and hold” as an immediate response to the earthquake scenario. It was followed by their “evacuation” to nearby open spaces.
Cindy Ferrer, OCD-6 spokesperson, said in an interview with Radyo Pilipinas Iloilo that the NSED aims to strengthen everyone’s emergency preparedness in the event of an earthquake.
Also joining the earthquake drill were Pavia Municipal Fire Office, Federation Fire Iloilo Inc., Department of Health Region 6, Iloilo City DRRMO, Philippine Red Cross-Iloilo Chapter, Police Regional Office 6, and private groups. They helped in evaluating the preparedness of the said barangay in earthquakes.
NSED is conducted quarterly to strengthen the mechanism for national and regional coordination, as well as the interoperability of key players. It also aims to intensify local communities’ earthquake preparedness and increase the commitment of local government units in building safe communities. (With a report from OCD-6)/PN
