The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Region 10 conducted a 3-day Workshop on Contingency Plan on Volcanic Eruption in Mambjao, Camiguin on April 12-14.
Close to 300 participants from local government unit, national line agencies, and barangay officials across the island joined the workshop that aimed to develop a plan that would equip the province to properly prepare and respond to volcanic eruptions and other related natural disasters.
Among the topics discussed were contingency plan factors, hazard plans, health-related hazards due to volcanic activity, and the establishment of an Incident command management team.
Camiguin has four stratovolcanoes. Its Mount Hibok-hibok eruption in 1951 paved the creation of what is now the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs). During the 1951 eruption, at least 3,000 people died.
DOST Secretary Dr. Renato U. Solidum Jr. served as a key Resource Speaker giving a lecture on “Understanding and Preparing for Geological Hazards”.
Solidum emphasized that knowing and understanding various hazards caused by volcanic eruptions is vital in the creation of a contingency plan.
“In Camiguin, you need to prepare for all hazards…volcanic eruption, earthquakes, and also prepare for landslides and global warming,” Solidum added.
Prior to his appointment, Solidum served as DOST-PHIVOLCS officer-in-charge and DOST undersecretary. He is among the country’s top experts in the field of geology.
Governor Xavier Jesus Romualdo said that it is important that the Island province’s officials and government offices know how to respond when there is a volcanic eruption.
“It is important that automatically, we know what to do. We need to know how to prepare and respond to the situation,” Romualdo said.
Romualdo urged the participants to really care and give attention to the workshop and contribute and come up with really good (response) plans.
“The provincial government really hopes that we can really keep on practicing the plan that will keep up after this workshop,” Romualdo said.
Philvocs 10 Officer-in-Charge Angelo Abang said that Mount Hibok-hibok had five eruptions recorded but the strongest was on December 4, 1951. “Mount Hibok-hibok is the 8th most active volcano in the Philippines,” Abang said.
Abang added that Phivolcs installed eight seismograph instruments to monitor the island’s volcanic activities and it is up to the scientists of Phivolcs in Manila to decide the alert level status of the volcanoes.
Office of Civil Defense Region 10 Assistant Regional Director Gilbert Conde said that the workshop will capacitate the local government unit to create protocols and coordination even before the disaster happens,” Conde said.
“Our aim is to reduce the loss of life, and damage to properties and return to normalcy in the fastest possible time. Everyone should be on the same page in a time-dictated depending on the scenario created. So we have response actions on how to work together,” Conde said.
Camiguin Congressman Jurdin Jesus Romualdo said that it is important for the island to be prepared for a volcanic eruption. “We need a plan, a system, a response mechanism that will help us prepare for a volcanic eruption. Everyone’s role is important is these plans,” JJ Romualdo said.
