Employees of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) do the 'duck, cover and hold' during the Metro Manila Shake Drill held Thursday (July 19, 2018).
MANILA -- The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Friday gave its personnel a modest 85 percent grade for performing assigned tasks “very well” during the recently concluded Metro Manila Shake Drill aimed at enhancing the public’s preparedness for the “Big One”.
“The Shake Drill was well organized. Our personnel know their tasks very well. They know what to do when disaster strikes,” MMDA general manager Jojo Garcia told a press briefing.
Among the highlights of the drill was how agency personnel handled the situation and responded to the earthquake scenarios as a team amid heavy rains.
Like the public, agency personnel were only informed on the day of the drill. An hour before the drill, telecommunication companies sent alert messages and alarms to mobile subscribers.
Garcia said many of the personnel deployed to designated evacuation centers and command posts in northern, southern, western, and eastern locations in Metro Manila had spent several nights in their areas to carry out their preparedness plans.
Another notable improvement this year was communication among the quadrants, he added.
“We have backup phones. Aside from our cellular phones, we have satellite phones on hand,” Garcia said.
The earthquake drill, which was conducted on Thursday and deactivated at 1 p.m.on Friday, raked up more than a billion impressions on social media that showed metro-wide engagement of the people in the disaster preparedness exercise.
However, Garcia noted that the quake drill still has a lot of room for improvement.
“It was not perfect. There is still a lot more work to do in the succeeding drills,” he said, noting that there is a need to upgrade tools and equipment for emergency cases.
Garcia said motorists have yet to learn on how to give way to ambulances and emergency vehicles on the road.
“We are calling on motorists to give way to ambulances and emergency vehicles, veer away to the left or to the right,” he said.
The MMDA official noted that motorists do not give space to passing ambulances when he, MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim, and other agency officials visited evacuation centers and command posts in the metropolis. (MMDA PR)
