After various government agencies reported seeing cracks in buildings, particularly schools, across the Western Visayas, the Office of the Civil Defense-Region VI is calling on all localities to craft an “earthquake action plan” and for local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (DRRMC) to submit an inventory of equipment intended for search and rescue operations, along with a list of personnel who have undergone collapsed structures search and rescue training.
Civil Defense regional director Jose Roberto Nuñez cited a Regional DRRMC memorandum from earlier this year that called for integrity assessments for all structures.
“There is an urgent need to establish preparedness measures and arrange response priorities ahead of time,” the regional official urged. “I appeal to local government units na dapat mag-cooperate sila sa mga memos na pinapalabas natin (I appeal for local government units to cooperate with the memorandums we release).”
He noted, especially after recent incidents in Cotabato, earthquakes needs to be taken seriously and emergency evacuation plans are necessary./WDJ