MANILA, Philippines — The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) defeated the purpose of the surprise shake drill by sending out alerts more than two hours before the exercise, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said yesterday.
MMDA general manager Jojo Garcia said they were compelled to announce the drill a few hours before it started yesterday after the NTC did not follow the agreement that it was supposed to send out text messages just five minutes before the drill, set at 1 p.m.
Garcia said the earthquake drill was supposedly a surprise to evaluate the people’s preparedness in times of disaster.
He said he will ask the NTC to explain what happened as he vowed to conduct an investigation of the incident.
“It was a setback in a sense because the purpose was lost. We have to improve on that,” Garcia said, adding that the MMDA is planning to conduct another surprise shake drill.