By Rene V. Carbayas
MALUSO, Basilan – Residents of Barangay Shipyard Main of this town participated in the
recently held earthquake-tsunami drill.
The scenario of the
simulated earthquake-tsunami drill was: at 9:50 a.m. an 8.3-mangnitude
earthquake with 50 kilometers depth location at southwest source of Sulu
Trench. The Municipality of Maluso felt 7.9 intensity with secondary hazards
possibly will occur like fire, landslides, and with 10 meters high tsunami. In
five minutes the Tsunami will hit Barangay Shipyard Main and the rest of the
coastal areas.
At the sound of the
siren, the participants executed the “drop-cover-hold” position and after a few
minutes, the participants moved to the Shipyard Elementary School as the
evacuation site. This signaled also the convening of the Local Disaster Risk
Reduction Council that mobilized member-agencies to assess the situation and
provided response and rescue efforts.
The municipal hall was
identified as staging area with Maluso Police Chief Edwin Placio was designated
Incident Commander and Municipal Planning Officer Joey Patrimonio was staging
manager. Meanwhile, the Maluso DRRM office was identified as Emergency
Operating Center (OEC) manned by DRRMO and Municipal Administrator Jojo S.
Camlian with the personnel from the Office of the Civil Defense-BASULTA.
Security was provided by
the combined forces of the local police and the 14SFC of the 4th Special
Forces of the Philippine Army led by TSgt. Romeo Toribio.
Rescue and response teams
were provided by the Philippine Red Cross, the Bureau of Fire-ARMM, and some
community volunteers, among others.
The simulated victims of
drowning tested responders’ ability to respond quickly in cases of earthquake-tsunami
events.
At the debriefing session
after the drill, the participants expressed their observations.
“Maganda and experience at ngayon alam na namin kung ano ang
gagawin kung may tsunami (The experience is good and now we know what to do
when tsunami strikes),” Alpiya, a resident of Shipyard said.
The Maluso DRRMC members
identified the lack of communication equipment, which hindered the full flow of
information and communication between and among rescuers, responders, and
incident command center, as one of the major gaps in the drill.
Maluso DRRMO Camlian said
that they would look into this gap and other concerns to strengthen their
ability to respond to situations. He also told the participants that worst
thing could happen in the actual event compared with the drill. He asked the residents
to take the drill seriously and keep in mind all the learning acquired during
the drill.
The social welfare
office, meanwhile, asked the residents to share all relevant information
whenever asked by social workers when one becomes an internally displaced
person (IDP).
“The data are important.
We ask you to be patient with us whenever we have a lot of questions when we
interviews IDPs in order for us to provide the appropriate help to the
victims,” Lolita Bello, Maluso social welfare officer said.
Dionisio Mondejar of OCD
thanked the participants and congratulated the barangay officials for the
successful conduct of the drill. He further encouraged the local DRRMC to
consider the gaps identified during the drill.
Moreover, the Philippine
Information Agency in Basilan explained the need and value of disaster
preparedness at personal and family level since possible responders and
rescuers could not immediately provide assistance whenever disaster strikes in
the community.