By IAN JOHN M. LAGARE
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (04 October 2014) - Smart Communications in partnership with Corporate Network for Disaster Response (CNDR), Albay’s Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (APDCC), and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) have conducted emergency drills in two barangays here in the city as part of the Noah’s Ark Project.
Barangay Baluan and Barangay South were subjected to a simultaneous warning and emergency drill on September 27 to test their capacities in disaster management after six months of training under the project.
Noah’s Ark project is an initiative by CNDR that aims to help different calamity-prone areas in the Philippines by capacitating comprehensive disaster preparedness and response trainings.
Founded in August 2010, a year after the catastrophic typhoon Ondoy struck the country, the project had already empowered many barangays in the country in terms of handling disasters.
Smart Communications has been aiding CNDR since then in their disaster preparedness endeavors.
Gensan is the second city to undergo the Noah’s Ark initiative, next to Malabon, since this project was originally focused on barangay-level training.
Nonetheless, the APDCC headed by its executive director Jukes Nuñez, has trained the 26 Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (BDRRMC) for six months, starting March of this year.
They were taught how to respond to emergency situations by instilling human resource capacity, institutional capacity, and developing community participation.
The Noah’s Ark project has adopted the disaster plan and management of Albay since the province can attain “zero casualty” despite being usually hit by calamities.
The Noah’s Ark project has also enabled these BDRRMCs to have an uninterrupted and fast communication with CDRRMC through an updated info-board powered by Smart.
A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed last February 2014 between City Mayor Ronnel Rivera, CNDR, and Smart for the Noah’s Ark project.
Barangay Baluan and Barangay South were chosen by the CNDR to undergo the simultaneous emergency drill because the two barangays are disaster prone areas.
Baluan constantly experiences flooding as it is a “catch basin” of the rainwater coming from the hills of Olympog, Ligaya, and Conel. On the other hand, Barangay South is susceptible to disasters such as fires, earthquakes, and floods.
The disaster drill subjected the two barangays in realistic “worst case” scenarios to gauge how the BDRRMC and the city will respond to different settings. Barangay Baluan (rural area) simulated a flashflood incident and Barangay South (urban area), a coastal flooding.
The communities also took part in the drill. Hundreds of families participated while NGOs and public safety agencies were present.
On the other hand, the DepEd Gensan has allowed some public schools to serve as evacuation sites for the evacuated families. Many teachers also joined in the drill as the managers of the evacuation sites.
The evacuation sites were strategically managed. Each room is assigned for each purok affected by the disaster. They also installed lactating rooms for breastfeeding mothers, medical and treatment facilities, kitchens, and relief operation areas.
Both barangays restructured their BDRRMC by forming different core groups to man different tasks such as evacuation, security, relief operations, and transportation.
The barangay halls headed by their barangay captains served as the command posts for the drill. They were in constant communication with the CDRMMC and gave real-time updates and warnings.
Personnel from the CDRRMC and City Social and Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) were delegated to each barangay to assist them in the disaster mitigation and response process.
The drill took off at 9:00and and ended by 12 noon. It was observed by Mayor Rivera, CNDR head Monet Flores, Smart Community Partnerships Head Darwin Flores, CDRRMC Action Officer Bong Dacera, other barangay representatives, and community stakeholders.
Mayor Rivera, upon observing the drill at Barangay Baluan, was amazed how the event has transpired.
“From the giving of advisories up to the evacuation process, everything was so smooth and synchronized. Even though this is just a drill, I can really see that everyone is serious about it. I guess we leveled up in terms of disaster preparedness,” the mayor expressed.
Dacera even joked that he can now “take a leave” after seeing that the BDRRMCs are now prepared.
A debriefing and post-assessment headed by Jukes Nunez took place after the drills. The two barangays received a high passing grade.
Arbaya Manibpil, 33, a resident of Purok Sarif Mucsin, Barangay Baluan has endured many floods in her stay in the area for the same number years also.
“I and my family have been here in Baluan for a long time already. If I would add the length of residency of grandmother here, then our clan has been staying here for 75 years now. And along those years, the flood has been with us,” Manibpil stated in vernacular.
“You can say that we became so used of the flooding, but still, we can never be accustomed of the fear of our lives and properties. There is one time that the posts of our house were drifted away to the sea because of the flood.”
“Sometimes, our bangkas (small fishing boats) would also sustain damage since the flood could bring large branches of trees and other solid materials. But above all, our palayan (rice fields) are the most affected when a flood occurs”
“It is really a blessing that we became a part of this Noah’s Ark Project. It is good to know that our barangay is now empowered when it comes in aiding us during the times of flooding.”
“I cannot thank enough the mayor, the CNDR, and Smart for bringing this project to us. We are hopeful that in the future, this project would really lessen the indemnities of the flood,” Manibpil ended.
The Manibpil family is one out of the 165 families in Baluan who participated in the emergency drill there.
Barangay Baluan experiences minor flooding as much as three times a year, especially when strong rains hit the city. It takes a week or two before the water levels would subside.
Mayor Rivera first met the team of CNDR and Smart Communications last December 2013 for the implementation of Noah’s Ark in Gensan.
The mayor, who just came from Tacloban after typhoon Yolanda, immediately expressed his approval and support to the project.
“I was awed on what happened in Tacloban. I do not want that to happen to our city that is why I am happy that we are chosen by the CNDR as the recipient of Noah’s Ark project,” the mayor said during the drill. (Gensan CPIO/Ian John M. Lagare)
