#MMShakeDrill 2017 off to a good start – MMDA

Rambo Talabong

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

#MMShakeDrill 2017 off to a good start – MMDA
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Danilo Lim says cooperation among local government units is at its highest

MANILA, Philippines – During the metro-wide earthquake drill on Friday, July 14, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) was able to  immediately establish contact with its 4 quadrant commanders as soon as they arrived at Camp Bagong Diwa, where the National Capital Region’s command center stands.

“I am pleased to report na sa ngayon established na ang communication natin,” MMDA chief Danilo Lim announced at a press conference after the first hour of the shake drill. “Radio communication ang ginagamit natin. It is assumed that bridges and cell sites have gone down, worst case scenario, kahit papano meron tayong [communication].”

Metro Manila Shake Drill secretariat head Manuel Gonzalez said they distributed satellite systems to the 4 quadrants and ensured that their connection was “compatible.”

In past drills, their communications system did not work in the absence of satellite networks, messing up the whole drill, Gonzalez said.

This year, they were prepared and were in touch with all quadrants within the first 30 minutes of the drill.

Lim also highlighted a spike in the participation of local government units (LGUs), as they implemented the scenarios given to them.

Department of the Interior and Local Goverment (DILG) NCR assistant regional director Juan Ingeniero said LGUs participated up to the barangay level, true to Oplan Yakal Plus.

It was the first time that all 40 barangays located above the West Valley Fault participated this year, Ingeniero said. “This year we sent assessors to all 40 barangays. Before, it was just done in the city level,” he added.

Deploying barangay assessors also meant that other barangays were monitored by the DILG all throughout the drill, not just the cities.

Lim reminded the public that it’s just the first day of a 4-day exercise “Let’s remember that this is a 4-day exercise. Maraming developments pa tayong pwedeng [abangan], but initially may magandang indicators na down to the barangay level,” Lim said. (We have to prepare for other scenarios, even if today’s activities were encouraging down to the barangay level.)

The Metro Manila Shake drill will continue until Monday, July 17, with more scenarios to be played out all over the metro. The MMDA is expected to provide a more comprehensive evaluation of the 2017 shake drill on the last day. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!
Clothing, Apparel, Person

author

Rambo Talabong

Rambo Talabong covers the House of Representatives and local governments for Rappler. Prior to this, he covered security and crime. He was named Jaime V. Ongpin Fellow in 2019 for his reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. In 2021, he was selected as a journalism fellow by the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics.