Makati City Hall to hold earthquake drill on Monday

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati City government yesterday said an earthquake drill will be conducted on Monday afternoon at the city hall.

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said operations and transactions at the city hall will be suspended starting at 1 p.m. to make way for the earthquake evacuation drill which will also simulate a power blackout.

Binay said the drill was organized by the Makati Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC) to increase awareness on safety guidelines and precautions during an earthquake among the city government workforce and other government workers holding offices at the city hall.

It would be recalled that Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Francis Tolentino had called on all local government units of Metro Manila to hold their respective earthquake drills in the wake of the intensity 5.7 tremor that shook Metro Manila and nearby areas on Wednesday night.

Tolentino said government offices, local government units and private firms should do earthquake drills and disaster management training regularly to refresh the public’s awareness and know-how on what to do during and after an earthquake.

According to Binay, the MDRRMC which is composed of key city offices and departments, has planned the earthquake drill months before to ensure that it will be smoothly executed and in full compliance with the international protocol on Incident Command System (ICS).

Binay said the members of the incident management team who will handle the evacuation drill have been trained on ICS, while an in-house fire brigade, which is a requirement for the drill, has undergone training by the Bureau of Fire Protection-Makati.

The incident management team is composed of 18 personnel from the Makati Fire Department, central command center (Makati C3), Makati Health Department and Engineering Department.

To guide the evacuating employees are 59 floor marshals and 167 team leaders. Other city employees were trained for the roles of assistant team leader, first aider and searcher.

More than 3,700 city employees will join the activity, and around 300 more from other offices from the regional and metropolitan trial courts.

The command post will be located at J.P. Rizal, near the statue of Jose Rizal, while the staging area for ambulances will be at Angono St. There will be a fire incident simulation at the Parking Building, while eight “victims” will be retrieved by the search and rescue teams from the main building, old building and parking building. Fire trucks will arrive only after a fire incident has been declared.

The holding areas for the employees will be at Cardona St., Ma. Aurora St., Zenaida St. and front of old building (tiled pavement). No portion of J.P. Rizal will be used as holding area.

For the drill, two lanes will be closed in the following streets: Cardona (from Osmeña to J.P. Rizal), Angono (from Osmeña to J.P. Rizal), F. Zobel (from Osmeña to J.P. Rizal) and Hormiga (from Angono to Antipolo).

The one-way streets that will be closed are Buencamino (two lanes), Ma. Aurora (two lanes) and Zenaida (two lanes). Traffic enforcers will be posted at affected intersections to assist motorists and the public.

The whole procedure will be evaluated by a composite team from fire department, police department, Makati C3, Makati Rescue, engineering department, human resources department and the Red Cross-Makati.