Lorenzana said disaster resilence summit very timely

July 30, 2019

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenza on Tuesday said the National Disaster Resilience Summit event is ''very timely'' as it stresses the importance of being ready at all times.

"This summit is a very timely event and we should conduct this regularly just to emphasize the importance of being prepared... on what to do before and after," Lorenzana said in a press briefing.

"It includes training people to be resilient. This is what exactly OCD (Office of Civil Defense) is doing," he added.

He said the OCD is teaching vulnerable provinces to be disaster resilient.

Asked on the government's readiness for the Big One, Lorenzana said this is why the government, led by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, has been talking and training people in the areas where the West Valley Fault is located.

The expected Big One is estimated at 7.2 magnitude.

"That's why we are emphasizing to the heads of our local officials to prepare accordingly," said Lorenzana. "And we hope that they are doing this stocking of supplies," he added.

In his speech earlier, Lorenzana said around 30,000 people will be possibly affected once the West Valley Fault moves.

Lorenzana also said the Department of Public Works and Highways also identified open spaces that can be used as evacuation centers and check if  the Building Code is being followed.

Lorenzana said once the Big One happens, the LGUs from other regions that will provide support to Metro Manila and other affected areas.

"The first respondents will be those outside Metro Manila because people will be busy saving their lives," he said.

For Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, executive director of NDRRMC and OCD administrator, said they directed local government units to have their own local disaster plans.

"That's why one of targets of OCD is looking at the local plan of LGUs because that is where you can see the investment of their calamity fund," said Jalad.

Meanwhile, asked what are the challenges they encountered from the earthquake that struck Batanes last Saturday, Lorenzana said it is the difficulty in transporting relief goods and personnel.

On July 27, a magnitude 5.4 and 5.9 quake hit Batanes with the epicenter recorded at Itbayat. At least nine have been confirmed dead, officials said.

"The first challenge is to go there, Itbayat is an island and the mode of transport there is by boat. So we have to bring the supplies to Basco then to Itbayat," he said.

Lorenzana said it will be easier if the airport in Itbayat was fixed but just like the hospital in the province, the contractor left these projects unfinished.

He said due to the twin quakes, people in Batanes should follow the Building Code.

"What they build is resilient to storms so what they should build next time is resilient to earthquake and storm," he said.

Jalad said what they learned from the incident is to improve logistics.

"We don't have problems with supply. The challenge is transportation... so I can say that logistics is what I can see as a lesson learned because Itbayat is an isolated place away from mainland Luzon," he said. Ella Dionisio/DMS