The Quezon City government is set to provide disaster risk reduction and management training to parents, especially officers of parents and teachers associations (PTAs) in the city’s public elementary and high schools.
Mayor Herbert M. Bautista has directed Division of City Schools superintendent Corazon Rubio to encourage PTA officers and volunteers to participate in a series of training on disaster mitigating activities and rescue operations to be able to respond especially to the needs of school children during disasters, whether natural or man-made calamities.
At the same time, Bautista has asked QC Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (QCDRRMC) chairman and Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) Chief Elmo San Diego to retrain school principals and teachers on disaster mitigation.
Earlier, school principals were trained by QCDRRMC disaster and rescue team in disaster mitigating activities to enhance their response capabilities during emergency situations.
“We must refresh their (school faculties) knowledge and capability in disaster and rescue operation. At the same time, parents of school children should also be included among the rescuers, thus training should be given to them the soonest possible time,” Bautista said during a regular executive staff meeting.
To date, QCDRRMC, on orders of Mayor Bautista has conducted a series of disaster mitigating activities in barangays especially flood-prone areas such as Barangays Gulod, Doña Josefa, San Vicente, Bagong Silangan, Sacred Heart, Del Monte, Roxas, Tatalon and Damayang Lagi.
Among the orientation courses during the training were urban flood management, water rescue and boat operation, especially in paddling and maneuvering in flood water; techniques in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, resuscitation, spine board management and artificial respiration; and other disaster and rescue operations training.
The City government has also initiate moves for retrofitting of buildings in the city especially school buildings to ensure that they can withstand strong ground shaking when a strong magnitude earthquake happens.
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) had earlier warned of a possible earthquake this year following the non-movement of the West Valley Fault System (WVFS) for more than 200 years.
The city government’s disaster preparedness program has adopted the zero casualty thrust ordered by Mayor Bautista, who strongly believes that disasters can undermine, and even reverse the hard-won economic gains of the city.
“Investing in disaster risk mitigations not only saves lives, it also safeguards our social and economic infrastructure, and helps ensure that livelihoods and businesses in our city are able to progress with less interruption,” the Mayor said. Maureen Quinones, PAISO
