News Release: Pangasinan revisits preparedness plan in the aftermath of Yolanda BY: VENUS MAY H. SARMIENTO DAGUPAN CITY, Nov. 16 (PIA) – Pangasinan’s disaster response units revisited its preparedness plan in the aftermath of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) that brought central Visayas to its knees. Col. Fernando de Guzman, chief of the Pangasinan Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said the council means serious business in implementing four key areas of its disaster response from mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery and rehabilitation. “The council looks into the ‘before, during and after’ of calamities and disasters and I can say that we are prepared and ready for response,” De Guzman said during the KBP (Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters ng Pilipinas) Forum held at the Philippine Information Agency office on Thursday. De Guzman said the province has been using its calamity fund wisely and part of this fund was used to purchase equipment like rubber boats, train rescuers and attend exposure trips to enhance rescue teams’ capabilities. Based on its disaster protocol, the Tactical Operations Center in the capital town of Lingayen is immediately activated upon authorities’ orders. The province has also identified and coordinated 564 evacuation centers especially in flood-prone areas, he said. The PDRMMC has also established an Incident Command System (ICS) to man operations and answer queries. Advance command posts have also been set up in three areas of Pangasinan namely Tayug town in eastern section, Lingayen in central part and Alaminos in western Pangasinan. “This way, personnel and rescuers in these posts will be the first responders in case disasters occur in these areas and will not wait so long for help coming from far areas especially if they become unreachable or impassable,” he added. In the same forum, Dagupan City DRRMC chief Ronald De Guzman said his team is collating the list of buildings and having talks with building administrators for a memorandum of agreement to allow their buildings to be used as evacuation areas in case a tsunami threatens the city. “We are prioritizing private schools which are two to three storeys high including the Malimgas market,” De Guzman said. He said even if Dagupan is a chartered city, it continues to rely on local governments to respond during disasters. Early warning devices like flood warning and tsunami warning systems have been put up in the city to prepare and inform residents of an impending danger. “It is also important to (have a self-awareness) on disasters. If a person knows what to do in times of calamities, this can help save his life,” he said. Pangasinan has extended its help to victims of typhoon Yolanda by donating P4 million while Dagupan has set up a relief drive by designating the City Museum as drop-off site for donations. (MCA/VHS PIA1-Pangasinan) - See more at: news.pia.gov.ph/index.php?article=2461384502640#sthash.v4SebwoR.dpuf
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 00:20:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015