BAGAC, Bataan – The De La Salle University in Manila has chosen this town as its pilot municipality in disaster preparedness for possible earthquake, tsunami and fire.
It held simulated drills on Wednesday in coordination with different agencies as a dry run.
Assisting DLSU in the project is the Municipal Disaster Risk, Reduction Management Council of Bagac with the cooperation of the Municipal Police Station, Bureau of fire Prevention, Medicare Community Hospital, Sangguniang Kabataan, PDRRMC and residents of Barangay Pag-asa, a seaside village here.
Maria Isabel Lanada of DLSU’s Center for Social Concern said they have institutionalized disaster readiness in this town since 2010.
“We have selected the town being adjacent to the West Philippine Sea and barangay Pag-asa had experienced tsunami sometimes in the 1970s,” she said.
“Dapat handang-handa in times of disaster,” Lanada said.
Johnny Mandocdoc of the Bagac MDRRMC said disasters like tsunami have struck Mindanao and part of the Visayas and they are afraid that Luzon will be next so they wanted their residents to be prepared.
He said they chose Pag-asa as launching pad of the project being the most-disaster prone Barangay in this town.
Bagac Mayor Ramildel Rosario said that earthquake and tsunami strike like a thief that no one exactly knows when it will come. “It is good that we have drills like these to acquaint the villagers of what to do,”he said.
The 400-meter stretch of the road from Pag-asa to the Bagac Elementary School became a virtual drill site for villagers rushing to higher ground to escape tsunami from the West Philippine Sea.
Before the tsunami exercise, villagers were briefed on what to do in cases of fire and earthquake by provincial and municipal officers of the BFP. Demonstrations were made on how to put off fire caused by fuel oil with the use of fire extinguisher and sand.
BFP personnel also showed how to carry injured persons from fire and earthquake incidents.Also on how to roll on the ground when one’s clothes are caught on fire.
