The Philippine Army (PA) on Tuesday announced that it had partnered with Megaworld for the conduct of the so-called ‘Earthquake People and Real Estate Emergency Preparedness Summit’ (PREPS) aimed at empowering key stakeholders, urban residents and partner agencies on disaster resilience and preparedness.
The event took place at The Blue Leaf Events Pavilion, McKinley Hill, Taguig City on Monday, Army spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala said in a statement.
The PA, through the 525th Combat Engineer Battalion, its primary disaster response unit, showcased their capability in military mobilization during calamities and earthquakes and shared their actual disaster response operations in Turkey and Myanmar.
Meanwhile, Oplan ‘Metro Yakal,’ Metro Manila’s Earthquake Contingency Plan was presented by the Metro Manila Development Authority.
This will serve as an integrated framework to orchestrate disaster preparedness and operational procedures of all concerned agencies for the ‘Big One’ or the massive earthquake that is expected to affect Metro Manila should the West Valley Fault moves.
Megaworld Corporation shared their initiatives on establishing their Earthquake Council which focuses on Extensive Building Audits, embracing technology and innovation on emergencies, mapping out business continuity plan and the launch and distribution of their ‘life bags’ to their tenants, and residents.
Further, the Office of Civil Defense presented strategies to mitigate the disasters’ impact citing the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Plan.
Previously, the PA and Megaworld also conducted a series of Joint Threat and Disaster Interoperability Training in Iloilo City from Aug. 28 to 29 and in Metro Manila last May 19 to 26 at Eastwood City, Quezon City that capacitated around 200 personnel from Megaworld Lifestyle Malls based in the Visayas and National Capital Region to effectively deal with various emergency scenarios.
The partnership projects are part of the PA-Megaworld ‘Pag-Alab’ Program Partnership which aims to promote Filipino nationalism, volunteerism and social responsibility.