GLOBAL Business Power Corporation (GBP) subsidiary Panay Power Corporation (PPC) participated in the 1st Quarter Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) in support of the government’s initiative on disaster preparedness and as part of the plant’s emergency management program.
The activity is part of the continuing implementation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRMMC’s) Four Point Plan of Action on Disaster Preparedness particularly on public information, education, and communication, as well as, preparedness for response. Amid the ongoing public health emergency, the NDRMMC highlighted the importance of taking into consideration the imminent threats of other natural and human-induced hazards, to which all stakeholders must be prepared to respond.
“PPC’s initiative to participate in the Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill is part of our way to strengthen the awareness of our employees on how to appropriately react during an earthquake. Being informed and being prepared as a team are important to ensure everyone’s safety. Even if we are in the middle of a pandemic, we should not let our guards down against other emergency situations such as an earthquake which has become more frequent the past few years,” emphasized FVP Petronilo Madrid, GBP Panay Site Operations.
PPC’s Emergency Response Team led the practice implementation of the plant’s evacuation and response plan in the event of an earthquake. The employees were reminded of the basic “duck, cover, and hold on” technique while strictly observing minimum health standards such as wearing masks and doing physical distancing at the evacuation area.
The Philippines experiences an average of 2,000 earthquakes per year but only about 12 percent of it is felt. For the past ten years, Western Visayas has been affected by major quakes such as the 6.2 magnitude earthquake on July 12, 2011, which was felt in Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, Antique, and Negros Island; the 6.9 quake that struck Negros, Cebu, and nearby islands of the region on Feb. 6, 2012; and the most recent 6.6 magnitude that jolted some portions of Western Visayas region on Aug. 18, 2020./PN
