Members of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in Bicol (RDRRMC-5) began updating the region’s disaster response plan on Tuesday.

In an interview, Claudio Yucot, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol and chairperson of RDRRMC-5, said the four-day workshop aims to create an accurate and up-to-date disaster response plan that meets the needs and situations of local government units during typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis and terrorism-related incidents.

“The Bicol Region is revising its Disaster Response Plan in accordance with the National Disaster Response Plan 2025. This update is timely, especially given the recent earthquakes occurring in the country. We need to ensure our response plan is current and effective,” he said.

Participants are members of the Bicol Region Response Cluster responsible for managing disaster responses when calamities occur.

“The Department of National Defense has instructed the conduct of localized earthquake drills in municipalities and cities, especially in areas typically not included in national drills, such as terminals, churches, and ports, where many passengers come and go,” he said.

Yucot said these drills should be incorporated into the defense department’s instructions as part of the preparation for potential disasters in the Bicol Region.

The workshop outcome will be disseminated to provincial, municipal and city local government units.

“They will base their activities on their own disaster response plans and update them according to the framework presented for the 2025 Disaster Plan,” Yucot added. (PNA)