PEÑABLANCA, Cagayan, Jan. 31 (PIA) – – The director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) urged the public to help the agency in mitigating and minimizing the potential hazards of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Director Renato Solidum, during the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) National Disaster Response Plan (NDRP) cascading workshop, said appropriate preparedness, mitigation and response activities must be based on appropriate hazard and impact scenarios.
“There is a need to capacitate the Local Government Units (LGUs) at the local level and assess the internal capability of every individual,” said Solidum.
Solidum said one’s knowledge on ‘Drop, Cover and Hold-on’, which is annually conducted during earthquake drills, is not enough.
“Education and proper information dissemination are factors to consider to minimize the potential hazards,” the director said.
He said it is very important that one should be aware of the different earthquake faults in the country by checking the PHIVOLCS fault finder website at www.faultfinder.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph .
On the other hand, Dante Balao, regional director of OCD, has expressed his gratitude to the support of PHIVOLCS in the conduct of trainings of disaster action officers from the different government agencies and sectors in the region.
“Disaster is everybody’s concern. We need to learn to submit and obey for the strengths of the council is also its weaknesses,” said Balao. (ALM/MDCT/PIA-2)