OCD, Army strengthen ties in earthquake responseOffice of Civil Defense administrator Ariel Nepomuceno meets with Army chief Lt. Gen. Roy Galido to discuss a collaboration on disaster response in the country. MANILA, Philippines — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the Philippine Army (PA) have strengthened their collaboration on disaster response, especially for earthquakes. In addition to the deployment of the Special Disaster Response Unit, the Army will also assist the OCD in training local government units (LGUs) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) on Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue operations. “The target is to train thousands of reliable BFP responders, reserve forces and civilian volunteers to be able to form highly skilled and equipped rescue units against any earthquake threat,” said OCD administrator Ariel Nepomuceno. Nepomuceno is also the concurrent executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council and an undersecretary of the Department of National Defense.

Source: Philippine Star December 24, 2023 03:55 UTC