ILOILO CITY — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) on Wednesday gathered close to a hundred participants from regional line government agencies, local government units and law enforcement agencies for a three-day intensive training on the management of emergency operations center (EOC).
“This is to capacitate our partners in the management of disaster or emergencies, especially in the operationalization of the emergency operations center,” said OCD 6 (Western Visayas) Director Jose Roberto R. Nuñez.
Nuñez hoped that after the training, “we will have the best or capable personnel assigned at the EOC” in times of disasters and emergencies.
The establishment of EOC is mandated under Republic Act 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Reduction and Management Act of 2010, said Alleth Nogra, acting head of the OCD 6 Disaster Risk Reduction Management Division.
While some local DRRM offices already have EOCs, there were some that still need to undergo training.
“For this intensive training they will be given formal guidelines, standard operating procedures, (and) legal basis to further equip their EOC,” she said.
She said the local DRRM councils serve as the policymakers and they shall have a physical facility known as EOC. During normal times, it can be their regular operations center but in times of disaster it will become an EOC.
Nogra added that while a standard EOC is required, it depends on the available resources of the local government unit (LGU) how it will be equipped.
Some, she said, have advanced equipment while others only have basic equipment.
“We are advocating that they should be capable,” she added.
While there is no sanction that is imposed to agencies and LGUs that could not establish a standard EOC, they may be disqualified from joining the Seal of Good Local Governance of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Gawad Kalasag of the OCD.
These two awards provide incentives to winning agencies or LGUs.
The three-day training is being held at the Smallville 21 Hotel in this city. (Perla Lena/PNA)
