Stay alert for MM Shake Drill at 4 a.m. on July 27
Published Jul 19, 2019 07:04 pm
By Jel Santos
Despite the early start of the Metro Manila Shake Drill this year, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is still optimistic that it will be successful.
Hundreds of students of Valeriano Memorial School cover their heads with their notebooks as they duck during the MMDA Shake Drill Awareness Campaign in Parang, Marikina.
(JOHN JEROME GANZON / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Celine Pialago, MMDA spokesperson, said that the rational of the 4 a.m. drill on July 27 was that people should be prepared even during early hours. “The local governments have committed to us to participate. It is important for the public to take part in this drill because we have no way of knowing the exact date when the ‘Big One’ will hit. We have to be prepared at all times,” she said. “We are still optimistic that many people will still join the Metro Manila Shake Drill.” Alarms, which would probably disturb the slumber of residents, will be simultaneously sounded in the metropolis at exactly 4 a.m. to mark the start of the drill. Before the drill, MMDA said it received a donation of 200 safety helmets that would help fortify the agency’s emergency preparedness and operations from private firm C’est La Vie Event Management. Last year, the concept of the drill was to not announce it in order to test the preparedness of the public. But the participation of the private sector turned out low, per MMDA General Manager Jose Arturo Garcia. “Since most of the private sector did not participate, that’s a failure on our part. Less than 50 percent ang nag-participate,” he said in a press conference in 2018, a day after the surprise drill.
Hundreds of students of Valeriano Memorial School cover their heads with their notebooks as they duck during the MMDA Shake Drill Awareness Campaign in Parang, Marikina.(JOHN JEROME GANZON / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Celine Pialago, MMDA spokesperson, said that the rational of the 4 a.m. drill on July 27 was that people should be prepared even during early hours. “The local governments have committed to us to participate. It is important for the public to take part in this drill because we have no way of knowing the exact date when the ‘Big One’ will hit. We have to be prepared at all times,” she said. “We are still optimistic that many people will still join the Metro Manila Shake Drill.” Alarms, which would probably disturb the slumber of residents, will be simultaneously sounded in the metropolis at exactly 4 a.m. to mark the start of the drill. Before the drill, MMDA said it received a donation of 200 safety helmets that would help fortify the agency’s emergency preparedness and operations from private firm C’est La Vie Event Management. Last year, the concept of the drill was to not announce it in order to test the preparedness of the public. But the participation of the private sector turned out low, per MMDA General Manager Jose Arturo Garcia. “Since most of the private sector did not participate, that’s a failure on our part. Less than 50 percent ang nag-participate,” he said in a press conference in 2018, a day after the surprise drill.