GENERAL SANTOS CITY—The provincial government of Sarangani will install Global Positioning System devices on its vehicles to ensure immediate mobilization during disasters and related emergencies.
Robert Lubonting, operations head of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said they are currently finalizing the arrangements for the installation of the GPS tracking systems on 29 heavy equipment and 11 light vehicles owned by the local government.
“This will equip our vehicles with real-time GPS tracking capability,” he said.
The provincial government has commissioned Cebu City-based firm Galileo Satellite Control Systems to install the GPS devices, he said.
Around P500,000 has been set aside for the project that will be sourced from the unexpended Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Trust Fund for 2014.
Lubonting said project will mainly enhance the ongoing rollout in the province of the national emergency hotline Patrol 117.
The local government launched the rollout of the hotline for all its seven municipalities in November 2015.
He added that the operationalization of the tracking devices will be handled by the provincial government’s emergency operations center at the provincial capitol in Alabel town.
An operator will be tasked to handle the tracking software to pinpoint the exact location of the vehicle, he said.
“Through the system, we could easily track down vehicles nearest to incident locations and tap them for verification and mobilization,” he said.
He said the tracking system would specifically provide a link for vehicle movement during emergency situations and in providing special services along evacuation routes.
Using the GPS, he said, introduces “a new level of flexibility for operational command structures.”
Unlike the usual GPS, he said the units that will be used by the local government include a fuel gauge to monitor fuel consumption.
They are also equipped with SIM cards and microphones for easier communication.
Lubonting said the presence of tracking systems in vehicles is common in large private companies.