The City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) said it has observed a much more improved response of the City Government of Davao, such as establishing evacuation areas that ensures public service continuity amid disasters, during the 5th City- Wide Full-Scale Earthquake and Tsunami Simulation Exercise (Simex) on July 25, 2025.
CDRRMO head Alfredo Baloran told Madayaw Davao on Friday at the Davao Global Township (DGT), that various offices performed well during the establishment of evacuation sites and other sites for government services continuity.
“Nakita nato ang improvement, for this fifth year dako kaayo siya og improvement, nalipay pud ko nga ang mga offices kabalo na sila unsay dapat nga himoon. Na observe ko sa mga tao tanan mostly sa offices and atong personnel they already have an idea unsaon pag establish ug unsa ang dapat himuon (We saw an improvement, for the fifth year, we saw a huge improvement. I am also happy that the offices knew what to do. I have observed everyone and I am happy because most offices and our personnel have an idea on what to establish and what to do), “Baloran said.
He said that for the simulation exercise, the city considered the scenario that Davao River bridges are blocked in the aftermath of a tsunami and established evacuation areas in the North and the South.
For the northern area, it was established at the Orchard Cemetery while the southern part had the Davao Global Township area.
In each evacuation area, they pooled the city’s resources, established communications, incident command post, and emergency operations center manned by various response cluster offices.
The city offices, after the “tsunami announcement”, were able to swiftly establish their respective tents, bring in medicines, food, and personnel to render service to clients.
Baloran said that he also credited the well-coordinated and active participation of the offices due to the Public Service Contingency Plan passed in 2024, which institutionalized the functions of each office in the continuity of services in case of incidents such as calamities.
“The most important part of the activity for the different offices of the city government is that we have exercised our public services continuity plan. We can practice what things are to be done or do in case of emergencies, during earthquakes, storm surges, or a major incident,” he said.
Baloran said that the CDRRMO will conduct assessment of the things that took place during the drill, to find out what the city should improve on in terms of earthquake and tsunami disaster responses. CIO