Malacañang on Wednesday participated in the second nationwide earthquake drill, but neither President Benigno Aquino III nor his four spokesmen took part.
Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., one of the four official spokesmen of the President, said Aquino only monitored the exercise.
“As in the previous exercise, the President monitored the exercise and was given updates,” said Coloma, who was in Baguio City for a conference with the Philippine Information Agency.
On the other hand, Undersecretary Jess Yu of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, who was at the event said, his office, the Office of the President, the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office and the Presidential Management Staff participated in the shake drill led by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.
For his part, outgoing National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council executive director Alexander Pama on Wednesday adjudged the 2nd Metro Manila Shake Drill and National Simultaneous Earthquake Drill a success.
Pama, who is also the concurrent Office of Civil Defense administrator, while the Philippines has obtained experience in the conduct of nationwide emergency drills, Pama said, it is still early for the country to proceed with the so-called unannounced earthquake drills that could also prove disruptive to the economy as the exercise could delay business operations if done too realistically.
Meanwhile, at least two people were “killed” and 18 others were “injured” in a simulated earthquake scenario at the Supreme Court where an estimated 2,100 employees have been successfully “evacuated” from the SC compound in Padre Faura and guided to Paco Park in a little over 18 minutes during the metrowide quake drill spearheaded by Metro Manila Development Authority on Wednesday.
At least 500 volunteers, headed by Emergency Marshall, Atty. Ma. Carina M. Cunanan, composed the SC Emergency Response Team. The drill was overseen by Deputy Clerk of Court and Chief Administrative Officer, Atty. Eden Candelaria.
Simulation for the anticipated earthquake also included an explosion in the Printing Division, and a collapsed and damaged building, both as consequences of an earthquake.
Candelaria and Cunanan observed that in comparison to previous drills, the employees took this one more seriously but were calm and organized throughout the evacuation.
On the other hand, airport terminals can withstand a 7.6 magnitude earthquake, the Manila International Airport Authority said after joining yesterday’s earthquake drill.
Airport officials and employees staged earthquake drills to assess the preparedness of airport rescue workers.
Vicente Guerzon, MIAA senior assistant general manager, said the drills were conducted at the International Cargo Terminal where cargo concessionaires Philippine Airlines Cargo, FedEx and the Philippine Skylanders, Inc. Cargo were holding office.
The earthquake drill demonstrated evacuation and rescue operations involving mocked victims trapped under debris and cargo following the scenario of a magnitude of 6 to 7.2 earthquake.
Guerzon said MIAA Emergency Response Team and cargo concessionaires cooperated well in handling the simultaneous quake drill.
The airport authority gave assurances that the security and safety of the airport users are its priorities. It added the entire month of June was dedicated to reorienting stakeholders and emergency response teams as to protocol under the Airport Emergency Plan.
After the drill, the MMDA announced that people are now taking seriously and aware of the “drop, cover and hold”, a concept or action that the public must do when a big quake strikes.
When earthquake strikes, MMDA chairman Emerson Carlos said, people must duck or drop to the floor before the shaking knocks them down.
He said people must cover their heads and necks using their arms and get under desks and other shelters that are sturdy. He advised the people to either hold on to their shelter or continue covering their heads and necks until the shaking stops.
“The importance of surviving the earthquake is for us to allocate our resources even better. If you survived you don’t need our help anymore, then we will find others who are in need of our assistance,” the MMDA chief said.
Carlos said the “MM Shake Drill” was part of “Oplan Metro Yakal Plus”, the government’s disaster contingency plan.
MMDA chief information officer Goddess Hope Libiran said there was indication that this year’s event had exceeded the last year’s number of participants with 6.5 million people.
“We have exceeded last year’s number of participants owing to the participation of Regions 3 and 4, plus (shopping) malls’ pledge of contributing 500,000 participants, primary to tertiary levels in schools joined as well plus the motorists,” Libiran said.
“Last year, we were overwhelmed because many had flocked to the command centers, thinking these are evacuation centers,” Carlos said.
