Philippines: Office of Civil Defense to lead second quarter nationwide earthquake drill in Soccsksarge
By Catherine Apelacio
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) XII will lead on Thursday (June 21) the 2nd quarter National Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) in Soccsksargen (Region XII), featuring the event's official tagline “Bida ang Handa.”
“We encourage everyone to join the #BidaAngHanda campaign in support of the 2nd quarter NSED on June 21, 2:00pm,” said OCD XII Regional Director Minda Morante in an advisory to the members of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) XII where she also serves as chair.
Morante said “the main goal of NSED is to gather the maximum number of commitments via social media.”
NSED is a national event which involves the participation of government entities, non-governmental oganizations, private and academic institutions, media, as well as other stakeholders.
Morante said all stakeholders are expected to participate in the event by doing and documenting their own drills in their respective area. The municipality of Carmen, North Cotabato is Soccsksargen's pilot site.
“We invite the public to post photos or videos doing the simulation drill or showing what they do to be prepared for earthquakes and other hazards,” Morante added, asking everyone to tag OCD XII in their status update about NSED on Facebook.
The posting of photos and videos of the drill must contain #BidaAngHanda across all social media platforms, said OCD XII information officer Jorie Mae Balmediano.
She also articulated the spoken statement that all participants must recite in the video: “Sa June 21, 2018, ganap na alas-dos ng hapon, sama-sama tayong mag DUCK, COVER and HOLD, dahil bida ang handa!”
In addition, she said agencies can showcase on their videos or photos what other initiatives they had already made in order to be ready when calamity occurs.
Morante believes that people’s sharing videos and photos of their “earthquake drill experiences” is one way of translating their commitment to help government achieve disaster preparedness and resiliency for the long haul.
She said their cooperation only shows that they are supporting the nationwide earthquake drill, which is conducted quarterly every year.