QC, Phivolcs conduct disaster risk reduction skills training

QUEZON CITY, Oct. 21 (PIA)--The Quezon City Government has joined the Quezon City Science Community Foundation, Inc. (QCSCFI) and PHILVOCS in a workshop recently conducted for nine selected barangays of the city dubbed "Workshop on Integrating Hazard Maps into the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan", which aims to increase community preparedness, enhance communication system and identify evacuation centers in the communities.

Officials from nine barangays of Quezon City traversed by the West Valley Fault, participated in the workshop, together with representatives from the QC Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (QC DRRMO) led by Gen. Elmo San Diego and other offices such as the Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department (EPWMD) and the QC-ITDO lead by Paul Imjada.

The nine selected barangays include Bagong Silangan, Bagumbayan, Batasan Hills, Blue Ridge B, Libis, Matandang Balara, Pansol, Ugong Norte and White Plains.

In his welcome message, Dr. Renato Solidum Jr., Philippine institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHILVOCS) chief and QCSFI director, said that barangay leaders must understand the hazards and risks posed by the West Valley Fault as he urged them to remain vigilant.

"Be responsible and be prepared with your disaster preparedness plans," Solidum told barangay officials of the city.

Gen. Elmo San Diego, on the other hand, said that Quezon City has been conducting regular drills and exercises on disaster risk reduction as he expressed the full support in the efforts of the PHILVOCS and the QCSCFI to assist barangays in community-based disaster mitigation program.

He added that the city government is planning to commission the use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) to help in locating the fault and identifying risk areas.

Mayor Bautista has made disaster preparedness on top of his list of governance initiatives to lessen the impact of any calamities.

Earlier this year, he directed the City Building Official to conduct rapid building assessment (RBA) to determine the resiliency and vulnerability of building structures in the city as he urged government buildings in the city to retrofit.

Quezon City has a Risk Atlas, a 120-page compendium of physical, socioeconomic, built environment, hazards, vulnerability and risk information, indicating the vulnerabilities of different barangays in the city.

The City Government has a Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (QC DRRMP) for 2014-2020, a collaboration of the local government and the Earthquake and Megacities Initiative (EMI). The DRRMP, a policy and program documentation, aligns the city's projects and activities according to four themes: preparedness, response, prevention and mitigation and rehabilitation.

As part of its preparedness strategy, Quezon City conducted the "Walk the Fault" project, a global best practice that identifies and marks the actual course of the earthquake fault line.

In 2011, the QC government team, in cooperation with PHILVOCS, tagged, marked and installed permanent markers on identified fault lines, complemented by rows of Cupang trees and tarpaulin warning signs. The markers signified that the areas bordering the fault line are "no build zones" that were converted into linear parks.

In 2012, the city's DRRMC, PHILVOCS, and and Geoscience Australia completed a trenching activity across the faultline at Barangay Bagong Silangan, enabling geologists to study evidences of ground displacement, which showed at least two or three earthquake events have already taken place in the past. (QC PAISO/RJB/SDL/PIA-NCR)

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