BONTOC, Mountain Province – Members of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDDRMC), responders from the partner national government agencies and Barangay Local Government Units (BLGUs), and members of the Bontoc Emergency Response Team (BERT) recently underwent a five –day Integrated Planning Course on Incident Command System (ICS).
ICS is a standardized on-scene emergency management concept specifically designed to allow its users to adopt an integrated organizational structure, equal to the complexity and demands of single or multiple incidents.
The participants in the ICS Level II are those who underwent the Basic ICS Training Course. The ICS Level II focused on the planning process of the Incident Command Post. Aside from the lectures of the trainers, the participants were involved in group discussion, tabletop exercises, final exercise on the Operational Briefing Period, and post-examinations.
According to Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer Johanna Padaen, the activity aimed to enhance the capabilities, knowledge, and right attitude of the MDRRMC members, responders, and workforce that are essential for the integration of the planning process for use in ICS operations.
Bontoc Mayor Jerome “Chagsen” Tudlong, Jr., approved the conduct of the ICS Level II Training recognizing its importance in DRRM programs and initiatives of the government.
“This training is very important especially nowadays that we are always visited by typhoons and we are located in a mountainous terrain that is prone to landslide. It only shows that there is a need for us to prepare through capability training for our responders, and workforce under the Emergency Operations Center and Incident Management Teams. ICS is the answer to how to effectively respond when there is a disaster”, the mayor remarked.
Engr. Jose Ignacio Valera, Chief of Capacity Building and Training Section of the Office of the Civil Defense-Cordillera Administrative Region (OCD-CAR) and an expert cadre from the Cordillera ICS mentioned that the ICS is very effective in applying to an incident be it man-made or natural. He added that it will help achieve tactical objectives and will also bring efficient use of resources.
The training course involved seven modules with the following topics: Overview of Planning Section; Forms, Documents, and Supplies; Planning Section Chief; Resource and Demobilization Unit Leaders; Situation Unit Leader; Documentation; and Transfer of Command, Demobilization, and Closeout.
The trainers are expert cadres namely: Engr. Jose Ignacio Valera; Gerald Alejo, Jr., a Registered Nurse and member of the Cordillera IMT; Mike Kenneth Piluden, a Registered Nurse and member of the Cordillera IMT; LDRRMO III Jonas Chumacog from the Mountain Province Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO); LDRRMO II Crismar Farnican from the Mountain Province PDRRMO; and LDRRMO II Meilynne Shalom Ayan of the Bontoc MDRRMO.
During the Closing Program, Sangguniang Bayan member Benedict Odsey II who represented Mayor Tudlong expressed the gratitude of the Bontoc LGU to the trainers for imparting their knowledge to the participants.
He added that the training was conducted timely as the magnitude 7.0 earthquake with the epicenter in Tayum, Abra Province was felt in the municipality. SB Odsey further said that with the knowledge, skills, and right attitude imparted by the trainers to the participants, they know and are aware of their roles and responsibilities in any eventualities, emergency situations, or disaster that may occur, should it be inevitable.
The training was funded and spearheaded by the Bontoc LGU through the MDRRM Office in partnership with the OCD-CAR.
Meanwhile, the ICS Level III or Position Courses on Incident Command System is tentatively scheduled on September 19-23, 2022.
