(Eagle News) — Department of Justice employees led by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra took part in the nationwide earthquake drill on Thursday, June 20.
Guevarra himself led employees as they ushered out of the DOJ office in Manila, some with their hands on their heads, after the sounding of the fire alarm past 2 p.m.
The participants went straight to the parking lot.
After a few minutes, they went back to work.
It was the Department of the Interior and Local Government that set the date for the national earthquake drill today, at 2 p.m.
In explaining the rationale behind the drill, Interior spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said in a statement on Saturday, June 15, that “LGUs should always observe maximum or extreme preparedness rather than employ a calibrated response not just for typhoons but also for earthquakes and other types of disasters.”
“This approach will save more lives and further reduce the number of casualties,” Malaya had said.
According to Memorandum Circular 2019-06, “all LGUs may utilize part of their 70 percent preparedness fund out of the five percent Local DRRM budget for the expenses of conducting earthquake drill.”
