CEBU CITY, January 12 (PIA) --- Regional line agencies under the
Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC-7) recently
convened with the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and
the province to come up with a contingency plan in case of an eventuality for
the Sinulog Mardi Gras this coming Sunday, January 18.
Over a million people are expected to dot the streets of the 6.1
kilometer-route of the grand parade as the contingency plan takes into
consideration the high density population of the highlighted event of the
Sinulog Festival.
RDRRMC-7 Chairperson and regional director of the Office of
Civil Defense (OCD-7) Olivia Luces said there is a need to develop an incident
command system (ICS) as part of the contingency plan to anticipate and
immediately address any crisis that might erupt.
“The development of the ICS is based on national standards where
its use was proven effective during the Black Nazarene Translacion event
some years back when contraband from the pier was intercepted,” said Luces
adding the prompt interception was due to good intelligence.
Luces said the preparedness of the grand street parade will depend
on four critical areas of concern namely security, crowd control, communication
and medical services.
ICS is not mainly established during times of disaster such as
typhoons, earthquakes, sea mishaps but events which are attended by a mammoth
crowd like fiestas and festivals must also have a contingency plan set in
place, said (Ret.) Col. Mario Verner Monsanto who briefed the participants on
the significance of the ICS.
Monsanto said events like festivals with crowded areas are
attractive targets for terrorists or lawless elements placing several lives at
risk.
During the meeting, an organization of the ICS was formulated
where most of the key positions like the incident commander and its command
staff as well as the four sections such as operations, planning, logistics and
finance and administrative are headed by local officials of the Cebu City
Government as the Sinulog Festival is mainly organized by the latter. The
organization is complemented by regional line agencies from the RDRRMC-7 and
other stakeholders.
Ricky Ballesteros, executive director of the Sinulog Foundation on
the other hand, said there are 25 medical stations that will be established
with the help of the Cebu Medical Society (CMS) while water stations are also
set in strategic places by the Metro Cebu Water District.
“The medical stations will entertain injuries and other medical
conditions,” said Dr. Danny Yu, CMS vice president. (mbcn/PIA-7)