QUAKE DRILL. Personnel of Antique’s Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) join the Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill at their office in San Jose de Buenavista on September 10. In an interview on Friday (Sept. 11, 2020), PDRRMO chief Broderick Train said drills for quakes and other hazards are necessary to ensure public awareness and preparedness. (Photo courtesy of PDRRMO)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – Antiqueños are more vigilant on earthquakes and other hazards, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said.
The province’s 18 municipalities and government agencies joined the 3rd Quarter Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) spearheaded by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) on Thursday.
“The Provincial Capitol had a siren sounded off following the OCD countdown nationwide,” PDRRMO chief Broderick Train said in an interview on Friday.
Amid response efforts for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, personnel of the Integrated Provincial Health Office took time to join the drill, Train added.
Despite the threat of Covid-19, the OCD was able to come up with a better way to make sure that public awareness about earthquakes is sustained.
It started with a webinar that was spearheaded by the national DRRM council as part of the NSED advocacy campaign on September 8, he said, adding that it as participated in by PDRRMO and municipal DRRMs.
“The simulation exercise yesterday was actually the culmination of the three-day activity,” he said.
Meanwhile, Train encouraged Antiqueño families to strengthen their preparedness for earthquakes and other hazards so they would be resilient.
“Each family should have to be prepared on what to do whenever there is a calamity,” he said.
Train noted that they should not be complacent because disaster preparedness is not only the sole responsibility of the government.
The province, he said, is prone to natural hazards that families should have to follow the policies being implemented by government agencies, such as the Building and Fire Codes, to reduce their vulnerability. (PNA)
