COASTAL BARANGAY SUMMIT. Pangasinan Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief Rhodyn Luchinvar Oro assures the province’s disaster preparedness during the Pangasinan in Action forum on Tuesday (July 9, 2019). A coastal barangay summit will be held on the last week of July as culmination of the National Resiliency Month. (Photo courtesy of Provincial Government of Pangasinan's Facebook page)
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – The Pangasinan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) will hold a summit later this month to prepare the coastal barangays in the province to respond and build resilience in times of disasters.
PDRRMO spokesperson Avenix Arenas said the coastal barangay summit is a culminating activity for the National Resiliency Month this July, in coordination with the Office of the Civil Defense in Region 1 (Ilocos).
“The attendees to the summit will come from coastal barangays of San Fabian up to Infanta,” she said in an interview Wednesday.
PDRRMO chief Rhodyn Luchinvar Oro said they are conducting continuous information campaign to prepare communities in case of emergency.
“The concentration of the summit is on the trench that could generate 8.2 magnitude earthquake, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs),” Oro said in a forum Tuesday.
Reports from Phivolcs indicate that an 8.2-magnitude earthquake may trigger tsunami that might affect coastal areas in the province.
In Pangasinan, Oro said two trenches are being monitored by Phivolcs -- the East Zambales fault and San Manuel fault.
He said the management of the San Roque Power Corporation assured that the structural integrity of the San Roque Dam situated in San Manuel town remains sound.
“The San Manuel fault, according to Phivolcs does not directly cover the San Roque Dam,” Oro said.
He further said there is no device currently that can predict when an earthquake will happen, but the PDRRMO, along with other agencies, is implementing preparedness measures.
Oro also assured preparedness of the province in times of different disasters.
“We have started preparedness measures as early as January. We have launched the ‘Ligtas at Aktibong Kabataan’ to give importance to the role of the youth, especially in social media. They are the most physically fit in the family and they have the most knowledge in getting early warning information,” he said.
PDRRMO also capacitated barangay officials being the first responders in times of disaster.
Pangasinan recorded zero typhoon-related casualties for the past three years, Oro added. (PNA)
