ILG URGES LGUS TO PARTICIPATE IN 3RD QUARTER NATIONAL QUAKE DRILL

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno today called on all provincial governors, city and municipal mayors, and punong barangays as well as the different offices of the DILG to take part in the 3rd Quarter Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) set on September 28, Wednesday at exactly 9am.

Sueno said the third national quake drill this year aims to determine the coherence, effectiveness and efficiency of the National Disaster Response Plan for Earthquake and Tsunami and Oplan Metro Yakal Plus that was prepared by the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) along with the operational plans and manuals local government units and other agencies have provided.

The national quake plan and Oplan Metro Yakal was put together by the OCD in collaboration with different government agencies, civic and international humanitarian organizations, and with the guidance of DILG and the Department of Social Welfare and Development based on the lessons from previous disasters.

The DILG, being the Vice Chairperson for Disaster Preparedness of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), will take the lead alongside the OCD in carrying out the respective operational plans and manuals for disaster readiness and response through the conduct of simulation exercises.

The ceremonial site identified for the scheduled drill will be at Juana Village, Barangay San Francisco, Binan City, Laguna.

He likewise explained the need to understand the command and control mechanisms in disaster management operations of NDRRMC members and the assisting regions as specified in RA 10121, NDRP and Oplan Yakal Plus; strengthen the interoperability between NDRRMC and MMDRRMC; test, assess, validate and evaluate the actual ground-set up of the RDRRMC IVA On-Site Emergency Operations Center in Camp Vicente Lim; and strengthen and align all existing concepts of Response Clusters and Incident Management Teams (IMT) interagency planning mechanism through the Cluster Approach Systems, Incident Command Systems, and other bridging mechanisms, among others.