Caloocan to hold drills to prepare for 'super' typhoons, quakes

MANILA, Philippines - The Caloocan City government is set to hold a citywide full-scale disaster exercises in anticipation of more major calamities in the future.

Mayor Enrico Echiverri said he met last week with members of the Caloocan City Disaster Coordinating Council and other local and national agencies concerned for the conduct of the drills.

The exercise will be based on models of heavy flooding brought about by super typhoons and the recent storms, and an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale, he said.

“The city is preparing for catastrophic disasters. Our goal is not to hype disasters or create panic, we are just saying these are going to happen one day and Caloocan City should be prepared,” Echiverri said.

The mayor said the occurrence of a major disaster “is not a matter of if, but when.” 

According to Echiverri, a Japanese government-funded study in 2002 reported that an earthquake measuring seven to nine on the Richter scale, triggered by the movement of the West Valley fault line, could hit Metro Manila in the future.

The mayor urged residents to be prepared with emergency kits for all major disasters, from flashfloods to earthquakes, as he reminded them of the city’s 24-hour emergency hotline services for disaster and emergency concerns: telephone numbers 324-5168, 324-4567 for Barangays 1 to 164 and telephone number 386-6568 for Barangays 165-188.

Winona Onza, chief of Caloocan Rescue team, said a pressing concern following a very strong earthquake is liquefaction, wherein the land could no longer support the roadbeds, making evacuation by vehicle nearly impossible. “Proper planning and coordination are necessary,” she said. – Jerry Botial