SAN JOSE De BUENAVISTA, Antique – National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Regional Director Ernesto P. Monroy is currently in Antique to spearhead the establishment of a unified radio communication network system among the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices (MDRRMOs).
“Communication is very vital in times of emergency so there is a need for the MDRRMOs to have a unified communication system,” Monroy, who will be here until Wednesday for the planning meeting of the MDRRM officers, said during a media interview Tuesday.
He said that in Iloilo’s Second District that included the towns of Cabatuan and Oton, they had already established the Rapid Emergency Telecommunications Team (RETT) that was of help during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in Iloilo last year.
He said that through the RETT, the MDRRMOs were able to relay messages faster and more efficiently using one radio frequency.
“It’s not really very expensive because a highly sophisticated repeater would only cost about PHP150,000,” Monroy said.
He added that they were looking into putting up the repeater in an upland area somewhere in Hamtic or Mararison island in Culasi so that the radio transmission could reach even as far as Iloilo or even other provinces in the region in the future.
Capiz has its own communication system already in place.
Meanwhile, Antique Provincial DRRM officer Broderick Train said that an efficient communication system was very necessary in the province as proven during the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
“We were somewhat delayed in submitting our report to the Regional DRRM office because our communication from the ground was disrupted,” he said.
Train said that with the unified radio communication network system, the MDRRMOs that were only slightly affected during times of calamity could augment the needs of the other towns that were severely affected. (PNA)
