THE METROPOLITAN Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has released a list of five sites that will serve as evacuation emergency field hospitals in case a major earthquake hits the capital. Based on a division of Metro Manila into four quadrants, the sites are: Veterans Memorial Medical Center and Quezon Memorial Circle for the north quadrant, LRT-2 Santolan Station for the east, Intramuros Golf Course for the west, and Villamor Airbase Golf Course for the south. “These locations are considered secure and can be accessed easily by rescue teams who can provide relief goods and medical response in case of emergency,” the MMDA said in a statement. The quadrants are composed of the following:
North — Quezon City, Caloocan, Valenzuela, San Juan
West — Navotas, Malabon, and Manila
East — Marikina and Pasig
South — Pasay, Makati, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Pateros, and Taguig
DRILL
The MMDA will hold the regular Metro Manila Shake Drill on the third week of July, but the exact date will not be announced this time. “No one can predict when an earthquake will happen… We want to do a shake drill in a more realistic environment,” said MMDA General Manager Jose Arturo S. Garcia in a separate statement. Telecommunication firms will broadcast the drill through SMS messages to its subscribers on a specific day, while radio stations will air an alert to signal the start of the drill. Companies, churches, schools, and institutions are urged to sound their own alerts.

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