118,459
edits
LOG IN. UPLOAD PICTURES.
The Philippines has Zambo Mart to help propagate the Chavacano Language.
Difference between revisions of "Southern Leyte News"
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
→ → Go back HOME to Zamboanga: the Portal to the Philippines.
→First blood-letting at PIA-So. Leyte nets 12 bags
| Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
---- | ---- | ||
<!--- DO NOT EDIT ABOVE THIS LINE ---> | <!--- DO NOT EDIT ABOVE THIS LINE ---> | ||
==8 barangays in Saint Bernard conduct simultaneous disaster drills== | |||
*Source: http://pia.gov.ph/?m=7&r=r08&id=52444 | |||
*Monday, September 05, 2011 | |||
:by Bong Pedalino | |||
SAINT BERNARD, Southern Leyte, Sept. 5 (PIA) -- Residents in eight (8) calamity-prone villages in this municipality on Saturday held simultaneous community drills on various disaster scenarios to test the capacity of the people for quick response during bad weather, and to practice efficient coordination among disaster bodies in the barangays concerned, the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (BDRRMC) along with their town counterpart, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (MDRRMC). | |||
Barangays Nueva Esperanza, Ayahag, and Sug-angon, which are located along the foot of Mount Kan-abag like the ill-fated Guinsaugon (in fact, next to Sug-angon is the buried Guinsaugon) were given a landslide scenario with selected victims on fatalities and injuries, while the five other barangays -- Tambis 1, Tambis 2, Himbangan, Panian, and San Isidro -- were given flooding situations being high-risk flood areas, along with injured and dead victims as well. | |||
The activity, the third in a row since 2008, was organized and fully backed-up by a non-government organization that focused its advocacies on empowering localities that are vulnerable to disasters, in cooperation with the municipal and barangay local government units. | |||
The first two drills were held under ACCORD, or “Strengthening Assets and Capacities of Communities and Local Governments for Resilience to Disasters”, while the one on Saturday was under ASCEND, for “Advancing Safer Communities and Environments against Disasters.” | |||
According to its literature, ASCEND is a community-based disaster preparedness and mitigation project with activities in eleven (11) municipalities implemented in Jomalig (Quezon), Marinduque, Rapu-rapu (Albay), Calabanga (Camarines Sur), Maragusan (Compostela Valley), and in Saint Bernard. | |||
ASCEND was funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) for 2010-2011. | |||
A hand-held radio communication between the MDRRMC base and the eight Punong Barangays set the mood of the drill that began past eight in the morning until past lunch time. | |||
As soon as the “message” of bad weather following three days of incessant rains was heard on the two-way radio, the Punong Barangays called all the committees of the BDRRMC to mobilize their respective committees and prepare for a pre-empted evacuation to avert a tragedy, which was already “ongoing”. | |||
The “batingaw” was pounded, first in slow pounding, to alert people for a possible evacuation and another, much faster pounding was made later to signal that people go to designated pick-up points immediately. | |||
An exchange of calls between the village leaders and the MDRRMC base made possible the arrival of dump trucks to ferry people to the evacuation sites, Police personnel for crowd control, ambulances and rescue personnel from the Saint Bernard Emergency Rescue Unite (SBERO) to carry the “wounded” and the “dead” victims. | |||
At the relocation site, several scenarios had to be attended, like a complaining evacuee who wanted to transfer to another room, trouble inside the evacuation center, and another set of “wounded” and “dead” at the relocation site. | |||
Overall, the conduct of the drills was successful, even as during the assessment after lunch, there were some deficiencies noted, such as cranking communication system for lack of charged batteries, duplication of orders among the BDRRMC committee heads, and a lot of laughing participants as the activity itself was no laughing matter. | |||
The second community drill held last October 3, 2009 was more real as it was raining the whole day due to a low pressure area, while last Saturday it was sunny. | |||
Among the observers were residents of neighboring barangays and from Silago, including Marichu Tan of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), and the local media. | |||
==First blood-letting at PIA-So. Leyte nets 12 bags== | ==First blood-letting at PIA-So. Leyte nets 12 bags== | ||
| Line 58: | Line 84: | ||
The successful conduct of the activity was attended and supervised by Dr. Nadine Sy of the Salvacion Oppus Yniguez Memorial Provincial Hospital, along with her two nurses. | The successful conduct of the activity was attended and supervised by Dr. Nadine Sy of the Salvacion Oppus Yniguez Memorial Provincial Hospital, along with her two nurses. | ||
Infocen Manager Gorne said the next round of the same event Friday next week will be held at the spacious function hall of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), although this has yet to be coordinated with District Engineer Carlos Veloso. (PIA-Southern Leyte/bong) | Infocen Manager Gorne said the next round of the same event Friday next week will be held at the spacious function hall of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), although this has yet to be coordinated with District Engineer Carlos Veloso. (PIA-Southern Leyte/bong) | ||
==Feature: PIA-So. Leyte office becomes 'blood-letting clinic== | ==Feature: PIA-So. Leyte office becomes 'blood-letting clinic== | ||