MAMBAJAO, Camiguin (PIA) -- For a resilient Mambajao, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), and the local government of Mambajao recently organized a three-day capacity building for disaster management, and the basic incident command system (ICS) focused on the emergency operations center (EOC) at the Operations Center Building in Mambajao.
The training is a response to the integration of the Mobile Command and Control Vehicle (MoCCoV) into the town's disaster management.
One of the trainers, Raquel Ranara, emphasized the importance of training for disaster preparedness and resilience, which allows for better anticipation and better planning to reduce disaster losses.
“We need to train and capacitate stakeholders to understand what we will do in times of disasters and incidents," she said.
An Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is a physical location where key stakeholders and agencies involved in a disaster response gather to share information, plan strategies, allocate resources, and monitor the situation. Depending on the complexity of the disaster, it can activate at different levels, such as local, regional, or national.
Marlyn Trozo, a speaker from OCD, highlighted the training features between an ICS and an EOC. She highlighted the differences and similarities between ICS and EOC, emphasizing the interface between both systems.
“Both the ICS and EOC effectively complement each other by using the force-provider and force-employer relationships. The Incident Command System, as the force employer, is used to manage on-scene response, while the Emergency Operations Center is the force provider that acts as support for the Incident Management Team,” she added.
Delegates from the LGU’s Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (MDRRMO), Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Camiguin Electric Cooperative (CAMELCO), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and DOST-PSTO Camiguin attended the training with 36 total attendees.
The training course aimed to develop the knowledge, attitude, and skills required for the effective operationalization and management of an EOC.
The facilitators emphasized the concepts, communication essentials, information management, and planning process, as well as the approaches to ensuring the EOC's readiness.
Mambajao Mayor Yigo Jesus D. Romualdo emphasized the importance of leveraging modern technology for organized, efficient, and fast disaster management.
“I want to maximize the use of technology where every piece of information is centralized into one system to make an organized and fast response to an incident,” he said. The mayor also emphasized the importance of training all personnel to be well-versed in their work.
Rep. Jurdin Jesus M. Romualdo agrees with the importance of operations and communications on the island. “We are an island; we need to prioritize communications, especially the internet, to support operations in the event of a disaster,” he said, further emphasizing the need for communication in times of disaster.
Moreover, the training highlighted the importance of integrating technology into disaster management and response. Technology enables effective communication during crises, as well as collaboration and problem-solving before, during, and after a disaster. (DOST/PIA-10/Camiguin)
