Capitol, UC hold earthquake drill
A siren blared in the Capitol grounds at exactly 9 a.m. yesterday as employees underwent their first earthquake drill for the year.
One minute after the first warning, three women emerged from the main entrance of the provincial Capitol.
Several others followed, coming out through different doors with their hands above their heads as they found their way to an an open space in the quadrangle.
Employees left their work stations when the alarm went off.
In less than five minutes, almost all of the Capitol’s 1,500 employees were “safe.”
Fifteen minutes later, another alarm sounded and the employees went back to their desks.
The quake drill was part of a nationwide activity in line with the celebration of the National Disaster Consciousness Month.
The activity was facilitated by the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) and the civilian rescue group Auxiliary Communicators for Emergency Response (ACER).
Baltazar Tribunalo Jr., PDRRMO chief, said they did well in ensuring all employees were evacuated and followed protocols.
“But if we judge them based on how they behaved in response to the hazard, which is an earthquake, they got a failing grade,” he told reporters yesterday.
On their way to safety, some employees were laughing, talking, or taking selfies with their mobile phones.
When they reached their designated evacuation areas, some stood around looking bored.
Tribunalo said that in situations like these, the “duck, cover, hold” principle should be applied.
Being the first drill this year and third since the 7.2-magnitude earthquake battered parts of Bohol and Cebu in 2013, Tribunalo said the results of the activity were far from perfect.
“But it can still be improved,” he said.
The University of Cebu Main Campus also conducted the drill.
Mercedes Cabatuan, a psychology student, was among those who went under a table and covered her head with her green backpack when the emergency bell rang.
“The actual experience and the drill are really different but at least we know more now about what to do if we experience an earthquake again,” Cabatuan told Cebu Daily News.
Cabutan was in Tubigon, Bohol during the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in 2013.
About 15,000 students, faculty and staff joined the earthquake drill./ with Palompon Institute of Technology Intern Jay-Ileen Engalla
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