By Atty. Antonio P
I saw the numbers on the FB page of the City of Baguio. Thank you very much. On the list were cellphone numbers to call in case of emergencies of the city and those of Benguet towns. I went down, down, hoping I will find the town of Tuba, Benguet. Yes! It was there. Opposite were two cellphone numbers. I dialed one expecting no one would answer. Or if one answered, I would get an unsatisfactory response.
After several rings, some body answered, surprisingly. It was midmorning of last Tuesday, May 31, 2023. It was the height of Typhoon Betty and was raining cats and dogs and the winds were howling. As if Dracula will come in for a visit any minute. I sheepishly asked if it was the town’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, and, yes, it was. He identified himself as one of the officers there. I said, I was just calling to check so I would know what number to call in case the situation even got worse and if something happened. He then said, they were having a meeting and that he would later text me their operations center number in case something came up. True enough, he texted me later giving me the number to reach just in case. I copied the number with a pentel pen and pasted it by the door of our bedroom.
Usually, emergencies happen when they are least expected. Murphy’s Law is worth recalling. If something can go wrong, it will happen on the worst moment, when it is least expected, when you are the worst prepared for it, when you do not have money or resources for it, when the people you need are not around, etcetera, etcetera.
So have DRRMO numbers handy, that you can see even when its pitch dark or brown out in the middle of a super typhoon night. But what use would it be, if you don’t have a phone or when it is “low bat?” Charging the phone must be a priority during stormy days. We are in that season now. So be prepared always. Don’t be a “Bondying”, a sleepy clumsy undependable over weight spoiled brat.
Disaster Risk Reduction Management Offices are everywhere. All local governments have such offices. Who are you gonna call? Their offices. Well, police stations and offices are always open 24/7 but the DRRM offices are supposed to be specialized for emergencies or everything about risks.
Now that super typhoon Betty is gone, it should be a chance for all of us to get the phone numbers of Disaster Risk Reduction Management Offices in the municipal/city level, the provincial level or even the regional level. These will come in handy in case Murphy’s Law strikes.
We have our own version of 911 but I don’t think our communication equipment are that advanced that once it is dialed, all the people you will ever need will be at your doorsteps with everything you will need even if for some reason you were not able to complete the call—such as when an extortionist had a sharp knife on your throat.
As one client who once lived in the States related, once 911 was called several teams would be there in a few minutes with sirens blaring. A team of policemen, another group of firemen, an ambulance with doctors and nurses, etc. They would know where to find you. All of them would be ready to save a life or lives no matter the situation.
Hopefully, we will soon reach that kind of development in our disaster and risk reduction response. That we would be better than just writing DOA “Dead on Arrival.”**
