by Desa A. Castillo
LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET- The life you save maybe your own. This was demonstrated again at the Balili Elementary School during the conduct of the First National Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) on September 7, 2023 in fulfillment of the requirement of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
Teachers of BES headed by Rovanie Joy Donglasan, the school DRRM Coordinator with the support of Mr. Asian S. Canuto, the school principal, strictly implement the Earthquake Drill every quarter of the school year.
To find out the alertness of students, the teachers planned the earthquake drill without giving any notice or orientation to the learners . However, pupils who were utilized as rescuers and those who acted as medics were oriented before the drill.
The teachers are happy with the results because the students responded immediately and with spontaneity in executing the duck-cover-and-hold process. Though most of the students were serious, there were some who did not participate well. In general, though, because of the quarterly administration of NSED, the students were familiar on what to do during an actual earthquake incident.
Mr. Canuto congratulated the students for their performance during the giving of feedbacks. He also encouraged the teachers to continuously educate, and teach the students on the things to do during and after an earthquake to instill the importance of being ready for their own safety.
By the conduct of the NSED, the Balili Elementary School teachers and officials fulfilled their duty under the “parens patriae” principle. That means schools and its teachers and officials serve as the second parents of learners when they are in school. The kids must be protected from any kind of harm. And what can be more dangerous than calamitous events like earthquakes, fires, typhoons, floods, etc. And one of the best ways to assure their safety is to develop in them the automatic reaction to duck-cover-and-hold whenever the ground and buildings start shaking. Time and again this was shown to be effective. Its importance cannot be overemphasized.**
