NDRRMC fine-tunes quake plan

MANILA, Philippines -  Regional and local disaster responders gathered at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday for a two-day tabletop exercise ahead of the metropolis-wide earthquake drill.

“The event is basically a simulation exercise to fine-tune regional and local disaster plans with that of the national plan based on a worst-case scenario,” said Alexander Pama, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and administrator of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).

Pama said regional directors were involved in the meeting because “they were already designated quadrants in which they would render help in case the earthquake strikes.”

He said the worst that could happen is the collapse of bridges along Pasig River, which would isolate the eastern, southern, northern and western quadrants of Metro Manila.

“The massive effect of the earthquake could not be dealt with by the MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) and the NDRRMC alone. As such, the responding regions should know their designated areas where they should concentrate their response efforts,” Pama said.

He added that the tabletop exercise, which ends today, incorporated lessons learned from simulation exercises separately held last week in Taguig, Quezon City and Marikina City.

As for the MMDA’s hour-long Metro Manila Shake Drill, which will be held at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, it will not only test the readiness of responders and the general public but also determine the “command and control” capabilities of the government in case of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake.

According to MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino, each of the four quadrants would play out a different scenario.

The eastern section (Marikina and Pasig City) would have a collapsed structure scenario with medical assistance near the Light Rail Transit Line 2 Santolan station.

The northern part of the metropolis (Caloocan, Valenzuela, Malabon and Quezon City) would have a medical triage scenario with relief distribution at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center golf course.

Fires triggered by the earthquake would be simulated in the west quadrant (Navotas, Manila and Pasay). The assigned evacuation site was the Intramuros golf course.

The south area (Makati, Taguig, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Las Piñas and Pateros) was assigned a debris-clearing scenario, which involved crossing Manila Bay to simulate a rescue. The Villamor Air Base golf course was assigned as evacuation site.

At least seven million people are expected to join the the MMDA’s quake drill. – Jaime Laude, Mike Frialde, Non Alquitran