黑料社

It was a mishap that an earthquake drill participant did not prepare for.

A college freshman could not stop shaking and crying after seeing a cat run over by a car entering the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City minutes before the Metro-wide earthquake drill started.

鈥淭he driver did not even react, he didn鈥檛 care,鈥� the upset student from Asia Pacific School of Arts told the Inquirer. She said she had pet cats at home.

鈥淪he was shocked. It was brutal,鈥� said a classmate, who took the distraught friend to a medical team because she had difficulty breathing.

Several participants from various villages in Quezon City were irked when relief distribution was stopped during the drill at the VMMC.

鈥淚 have a stub but they wouldn鈥檛 give me a relief pack. They said I need a card, why didn鈥檛 they tell us that before?鈥� a woman said.

鈥淭hey still have a lot of relief packs but they already stopped distribution,鈥� another woman said.

The women from Barangay Commonwealth, Tandang Sora and Bagong Silangan felt it would be reflective of what will happen in a real disaster.

Hazel Militante of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said the relief packs were not all intended to be distributed during the drill.

To get a feel of actual scenario, some relief packs were distributed to participant-鈥渆vacuees鈥� who were preselected by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Militante said.

鈥淢any did not receive a relief pack. Although we are ready, we have enough family food packs and hot meals, the incident commander has announced the termination of the drill so we stopped distribution,鈥� she said.

She also said the stubs were issued at the MMDA registration of evacuees. The DSWD has a separate registration where the evacuees are interviewed by social workers; they will then be given family access cards which they will present to the relief distribution tent.

鈥淭he family access card is a way to identify them. So we would know they are victims and when they seek help, we have their record,鈥� Militante said.

She said she recognized the gap and would recommend a combined MMDA/DSWD registration in the interagency postevaluation.