By Ma. Cristina Arayata/PNA
MANILA — The Ninoy Aquino International Airport ‘s (NAIA) Crisis Management Organization (CMO) held a security drill at the Terminal 3 VIP Parking Area on Tuesday, to better prepare authorities on how to respond in case of a bomb explosion.
The CMO is composed of the NAIA Crisis Management Committee (CMC), headed by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), and the Critical Incident Management Task Group.
The Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group, security guards, personnel of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Immigration, and Bureau of Quarantine, airline operators, and K-9 officers were deployed during the exercise.
According to MIAA, this exercise aims to demonstrate strategic decisive actions to resolve a bomb explosion crisis. The CMC that MIAA heads is primarily concerned with the formulation of bomb explosion management policies, integration, and orchestration of government and public efforts to resolve the crisis.
In this exercise, the seat of explosion was isolated, while the circumstances at the bomb explosion crisis area were stabilized. Authorities also evacuated non-essential vehicles, equipment, and persons near the vicinity of the explosion site.
The exercise was different from the crisis management exercise and the crash and rescue exercise that MIAA helps to stage every two years.
MIAA Media Affairs Division head, Jess Martinez, earlier told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that the Aviation Security Group of the Philippine National Police heads these exercises.
The crisis management exercise is an anti-hijacking exercise conducted by stakeholders.
In both exercises, the stakeholders identified their roles, for instance, who will provide needed manpower, and discussed what would be the participation of every stakeholder in the given scenario.
