Aligned with their organization’s slogan that says, “Saving lives is our priority,” members of the Society of Communicators and Networkers International (SCAN) in various ecclesiastical districts in the National Capital Region (NCR), and neighboring provinces in the Philippines, attended coordinated emergency response simulation activities from February 16 to 17, 2024, raising awareness about ‘The Big One.’

‘The Big One’ is a predicted 7.2-magnitude earthquake on the West Valley Fault (WVF), a 100-kilometer fault line which transects portions of Quezon City, Marikina City, Pasig City, Makati City, Taguig City, and Muntinlupa City, all of which are located in the NCR, and the provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Rizal, and Cavite (governmentph.com). Previous studies project 31,000 to 34,000 deaths at the first hour. Since the results of the study has been released, seminars, earthquake drills, and emergency response simulations were conducted by government agencies, and local government units (LGUs) with the aim of reducing, if not totally eliminating, possible casualties.

Thus, prior to the said dates, SCAN members held meetings in their respective ecclesiastical districts wherein response plans and procedures were presented to the emergency responders. Among the topics discussed was the possibility of SCAN members in the metropolis being unable to respond due to them also being among the affected. For this reason, a plan has been drawn up for SCAN members from provinces bordering Metro Manila to assist specific districts within the Metro.

On the first day of the activity, SCAN members from each local congregation in the NCR were stationed for 24 hours in incident command posts (ICP) set within their respective house of worship compounds. At random times, they simulated the possible scenes and responses should strong earthquakes, especially that dubbed as ‘The Big One,’ strike.

In the Local Congregation of Batasan Hills 1, Ecclesiastical District of Quezon City, members assisted by those from the ecclesiastical districts in the province of Tarlac-Tarlac City, Paniqui, and Capas-demonstrated how a search and rescue operation inside a collapsed building should be done.

Meanwhile, in the Local Congregation of Veterans Village 1, Ecclesiastical District of Central, SCAN members from the ecclesiastical districts of Pampanga East, and Bataan joined those from the said congregation in responding to possible scenes should such a catastrophe happen during a worship service.

“With God’s help, we were able to conduct this activity that will greatly help us to be all the more prepared in responding to emergencies especially when ‘The Big One’ strikes,” said Ronnie Lizarondo, Central District SCAN president.

“It is of great importance that activities like this are being held for this helps us even more in our assessment of the damages to be caused by earthquakes in the future, and through this assessment, we were able to develop strategies to be more effective in responding to emergency situations,” stated Rene Boy Pallarca, Quezon City District SCAN president.