Efforts to ensure PH ready for ‘Big One’: Lorenzana

MANILA — All possible efforts are being undertaken to ensure that the Philippines, especially Metro Manila, is prepared for the “Big One” or the massive earthquake that will be triggered by a movement of the West Valley Fault.

This was emphasized by Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana during the media briefing shortly after the launching of the two-day National Disaster Resilience Summit which was held at the Novotel Manila Center in Cubao, Quezon City on Tuesday.

He added that the DND, along with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), is busy talking to and training people living in Metro Manila lying in the path of the West Valley Fault.

This fault line runs through Metro Manila to the cities of Marikina, Quezon City, Pasig, Makati, Taguig and Muntinlupa and also traverses Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan to Calamba, Laguna.

“(The West Valley Fault is) huge (and once it) moves (it is capable of creating large scale earthquakes with magnitude 7 or higher and causing massive destruction) and that’s why we have been emphasizing it to the heads of our local officials to prepare accordingly,” Lorenzana said.

Part of the preparation is that local government units tell their constituents to stockpile three days worth of food and water while barangays store a week’s worth of essential supplies. Cities and towns should also have more of these items in depots and secure locations.

Lorenzana said that he is hoping that households have their own survival kit or grab bag containing emergency items and a battery-operated transistor radio and power banks for cellphones.

Meanwhile, OCD administrator Ricardo Jalad, who is also executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said the national government has a contingency plan for such eventualities.

Aside from this, all government agencies are assigned a particular task within their capacity and capability. Jalad also said that they are also looking at the capacity of the local government units (LGUs) to do its own disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) capability.

In line with this, the OCD chief is hoping that the LGUs will invest more in their calamity funds or the local DRRM fund. Aside from this, efforts or contingency measures are now being prepared by responsible agencies to ensure that food and water supplies in Metro Manila remain stable in the event of the “Big One”.

Lorenzana said part of the preparations include the Department of Public Works and Highways checking out buildings in Metro Manila to determine which are quake-resistant or not.

Another ongoing effort is the identification of open areas that could serve as evacuation centers.