Shake drill: MMDA gets passing grade
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) gets a passing rate for yesterday’s shake drill, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs).
Renato Solidum Jr., Phivolcs director, said he was impressed by how the MMDA and the disaster response teams of Metro Manila’s cities responded to the 5th Metro Manila Shake Drill.
“Mas maganda na, pero kulang pa ‘yan syempre at kailangan pa nating ihanda lalo na yung mga lugar na hindi apektado ng
lindol (It’s better, but it is still lacking and we need to prepare the areas not affected by the earthquake) outside Metro Manila,” said Solidum, who joined the predawn earthquake drill yesterday.
He added that the MMDA’s shake drill is better organized this year than the previous drills it held.
Solidum also lauded Metro Manila’s local governments for showcasing their state-of-the-art facilities and the skills of their disaster response teams.
He said the local governments are now using information and communications technology to monitor areas that would be affected by a strong earthquake.
Another improvement Solidum cited is that there are more disaster response personnel who are trained in high-angle rescue, which involves slopes of at least 60 degrees and with rescuers dependent on a system of ropes and pulleys to gain access to and rescue a victim.
For his part, MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim said he noticed the “wellmotivated” rescue personnel and advanced disaster response facilities of local governments.
He said communication lines have always been the MMDA’s problem since they started holding the shake drill.
“Communication was not as big a problem this year, but we expected it to be faster,” Lim said, referring to an incident wherein some quadrants were delayed in reporting updates for a few minutes.