ILOILO CITY — The Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) in Western Visayas cited the “improved” awareness and participation of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during the conduct of the 2nd Quarter National Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) on Thursday afternoon.
Melissa Banias, chief of OCD 6’s (Western Visayas) capability building section and information officer designate, said in an interview that Bacolod City has been chosen as the pilot site for the region this quarter.
However, government offices, schools and establishments in other parts of the region decided to join the quarterly exercise.
The NSED was also facilitated by their respective local disaster risk reduction and management councils.
As for Police Regional Office (PRO) 6, Banias said that with their continuous conduct of the simulation exercise, they have also adopted the recommendations of observers, such as the establishment of a command post.
“Awareness has already been instilled among the participants,” she said.
As one of the observers during the PRO-6 exercise, she noted that even their top officers joined the “duck, cover and hold” practice. “They would like to set an example to their subordinates,” she said.
Thursday’s drill was participated in by some 300 personnel, including police applicants. The only comment was that the sound-off of bells did not synchronize, she said.
Banias added that PRO-6 has already institutionalized its preparations in case of an earthquake because it also have an earthquake preparation plan that policemen followed during the drill.
“Their participation was not just for the sake of compliance,” she added.
The quarterly NSED aims to test community preparedness, and to synergize and synchronize efforts towards supporting the effective implementation of the National and Regional Disaster Response Plan. (Perla Lena/PNA)
