Home | To bottom

Baguio not ready for another disaster

BAGUIO CITY (June 20) — The city government, by itself, definitely cannot handle an eventuality of a disaster of the 1990 earthquake magnitude, Dir. Vicente Tomazar of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) told the media and his colleagues during the press conference following the nationwide earthquake drill today, where more than 8,000 students and 200 teachers participated.

Tomazar quipped that trainings on preparedness and management should be done to better prepare every one.

“We have to be prepared for any disaster,” agreed General Raul Gonzales, Philippine National Police (PNP) regional director, who also heads the Cordillera Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC). Gonzales recalls that in 1990 when the killer quake closed all three major access routes to the city, the city was left on its own to fend its residents from the rubbles the quake left.

Gonzales said the drill only determines preparedness, how people react to a disaster and how to survive it.

On top of its 129 barangays peopled by about 300,000, there are 15 secondary and 36 elementary public schools which the city has to look after in the event of a disaster.

Identifying blunders

Principals of three public schools under the Department of Education raised safety issues as the assessment as the dramatization reeled off.

Drill participants and observers pointed out that there are doors that still swing in, an identified blunder during a mass evacuation. Specifically, the corridors of the Pines City National High School are but one meter wide and doors swing out only 90 degrees, not 180 degrees as advised, according to Dr. Rachel Bugtong, principal who invited city building officials and disaster authorities to inspect and correct swing-in doors and other structural defects.

“We have brought this matter with city officials last year but until now, nothing has been done to repair our doors. She adds that the school was asked to foot the bill for school repair.

Engineers belonging to the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) also noted that the evacuation routes from the Doña Josefa Cariño Elementary School are too narrow and pose possible dangers when the buildings would collapse.

“There are no alternative exits so that when the buildings collapse, children would be trapped inside the campus,” William Rervina, Cariño principal said. He asked for the construction of emergency exit at the back of the school and suggested that instead of going up, children go down in evacuation.

Other lapses in the drill were identified which included first aid, rescue operations, identifying victims and reporting such to the command post, but on the whole, the drill was a success because according to Tomazar it aimed to give teachers an experience in immediately vacating the disaster zone and evacuating the pupils.

The Bureau of Fire Protection, the Philippine National Red Cross and the City Social Welfare Office were also involved in the drill.

Vulnerability mapping

Mayor Braulio D. Yaranon, who stood as the most senior officer of the command post, admitted that “we would be at a loss when buildings collapse because the city still has to do an inventory on buildings and equipment needed for such an eventuality.” He is referring to blighted places like those near schools where boarding houses are located.

PICE is yet to come up with its vulnerability mapping, a two-year project geared at disaster mitigation. Engr. Tony Caluza, PICE national council member said Baguio is chosen a pilot project for the vulnerability mapping. He said, however that the substructure is not included in the project, insinuating that another agency is concerned with the geological side of the vulnerability mapping for the city.

Meanwhile, Yaranon ordered an urgent inspection of all public schools to introduce corrective measures to ensure safety of students. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

Post your comments, reactions to this article

Home | Back to top