The Executive Director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said he has submitted to Malacañang a National Disaster Plan in case a massive earthquake hits Metro Manila.

Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, who is also the concurrent administrator of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), made the revelation during the roundtable discussion with Manila Bulletin editors in Intramuros, Manila yesterday.

DISASTER CZAR – National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director and Civil Defense Administrator Ricardo Jalad answers question from a panel of Manila Bulletin (MB) editors during the MB Hot Seat round-table discussion at the MB integrated newsroom yesterday. (Jay Ganzon | Manila Bulletin)

Jalad said he had the occasion to brief the President about the disaster plan during the Cabinet meeting Monday.

“Firstly, I briefed the president about the national level plans when it comes to earthquake as well as other disasters and what we have is the National Disaster Response Plan for earthquake which was recently approved by the full council of the NDRRMC,” Jalad said.

“And we also told him that we are trying to rationalize our contingency plan for an earthquake that will likely affect Metro Manila and what we have right now is the Oplan Yakal Plus developed by the NDRRMC and the Metro Manila Development Authority or (MMDA),” he said.

Jalad explained the need to rationalize their contingency plan in the event the West Valley fault moves, disaster response will not only be confined to Metro Manila or NCR but also affect parts of  Region 3 and Region IVA.

“So we must have a contigency plan that will cover those areas and we are also including the participation or response of the regions outside the areas,” Jalad said.

“So we are looking at the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) in Luzon as first wave of assisting regions and some regions in Visayas and Mindanao as the second wave,” he added.

Also present during the roundtable discussion are OCD Assistant Secretary Kristoffer James Purisima, Director Raffy Alejandro, Director Vicente Tomazar, Director Rodrigo Diapana, and NDRRMC spokesperson Romina Marasigan.

CLUSTERING

Jalad explained they have as template a response cluster system which includes Health, Education, Search and Rescue, Peace and Order and Logistics.

“In the Education cluster they should look at safety of schools.  The Search and Rescue and Retrieval Cluster  will be led by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with the participation of other agencies which has urban search and rescue capability, and other clusters rapid emergency telecom teams led by OCD,” he said.

“So what I told the president basically is, each cluster should commit their resources and build their capacity on these clusters. It’s not only the OCD. Of course, we have one cluster, the logistics cluster which the OCD is leading with the participation of other agencies.  All of them should build their logistics,” Jalad shared.

“Each of these agency should build up their disaster response capabilities,” he said.

But they are having difficulty in purchasing items needed for  their operation because of the usual bureaucratic red tape.

“We also look back to some of the action items of agencies provided for in the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study. Like in the DPWH, they have action items for bridges and skyways,” he said.

Currently, Jalad said there are at least seven bridges within NCR and skyways which are undergoing retrofitting in preparation for the “Big One.”

INFORMATION CAMPAIGN

The NDRRMC is also working to intensify its information and education campaign.  Jalad said the agency hopes to achieve this through the distribution of more leaflets and flyers, through social media (Facebook and Twitter) and through the help of mainstream media.

“This will help educate the people,” he said.

“To upscale that we need to mainstream DRR (Disaster Relief Response). If we have children in school educated in DRR they will be able to embrace that even in the future,” he said.

Jalad also revealed they issued a memorandum last March to check all government buildings to determine its structural integrity.

There are at least 300 public buildings already condemned, Jalad noted.

A memorandum of agreement will also be signed with petroleum companies so that fuel will be available in case the Big One comes.

“It will ensure the supply of petroleum products even after disaster strikes,” he added.

They are also looking forward to sign an agreement with construction companies for search and rescue and rebuilding efforts in post-earthquake scenarios.

Jalad said they presented to the President at least 16 recommendations to improve disaster preparedness and to have stronger emergency response.

The recommendations include the construction of evacuation centers, completion of retrofitting of bridges & skyways, gov’t offices, schools, hospitals; review of building code by the DPWH to upscale EQ protection for buildings, relocation of houses in danger areas and fault; increased budget for insurance of public buildings and infrastructures among others.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Francis Wakefield

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