By Annabel Consuelo Petinglay/PNA
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique — Local government units (LGUs), lacked the necessary communication equipment for an early warning system, have been encouraged by the Antique Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) to prioritize its acquisition.
PDRRMO head Broderick Train said Thursday that five of the 18 municipalities of the province have not yet hooked up with the Unified Communication Network System (UCNS) since it was installed in 2018 due to lack of equipment and personnel assigned to handle the communication system.
“There are still five towns that have not yet hooked up,” Train said.
He said that the UCNS makes use of the VHF radio equipment so that weather situations and sudden hazard impact could be relayed to 18 municipalities. It serves as an early warning to the public whenever there are typhoons and when an efficient response from the local DRRMO is deemed necessary.
“The towns that have not yet hooked up with the UCNS are the northernmost town of Libertad, island towns of Caluya, Pandan, Sebaste, and Culasi,” Train said.
He said the other 13 towns of the province — from the southernmost Anini-y to Tibiao — already have the communication system.
“Our UCNS nerve center is at Mt. Liwliw in Tobias Fornier and then at the PDRRMO in Binirayan Sports Complex,” he said.
Train said that the communication system is very important as the province faces a lot of weather disturbances and other probable threats this year.
