By Connie Calipay
LEGAZPI CITY – The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) of Bicol will activate “blue alert” status across all disaster units and operation centers ahead of the Holy Week observance.
In a Tuesday interview, Claudio Yucot, the Regional Director of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and Chair of Bicol DRRMC, stated that the implementation of the blue alert status is part of the council’s proactive measures to enhance readiness among the region’s disaster units and affiliated agencies.
The Bicol RDRRMC Emergency Operation Center (EOC) added the Semana Santa (Holy Week) 2024 for our incident monitoring under blue alert status. The RDRRMC Bicol is also in blue alert status for the continuous monitoring of Mayon Volcano and Bulusan Volcano (both under alert level 1),” he said.
In a memorandum, Yucot directed all DRRMCs to closely monitor and report their actions during the blue alert period from March 21 to April 1.
The blue alert status is the second level of alert status for the RDRRMC Bicol EOC, which heightened operations, monitoring, coordination, and reporting.
Under such status, the RDRRMC response agencies shall place their respective emergency operations centers round-the-clock in case of incidents and other eventualities throughout the observance of Holy Week.
Local government units must have contingency plans for Holy Week 2024, and national government agencies should ensure their operational plans are implemented down to the local level. (PNA)
