Administrators and key personnel of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) attended a two-day workshop titled “Ang Pagpasangkad: A Training-Workshop on Crisis Management” organized by the UPV Crisis Management Committee (UPV CMC) headed by Mr. Aljohn T. Torreta from 2-3 May 2024 at Hotel Del Rio.
In her opening message, Dr. Farisal U. Bagsit, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Vice Chair of the UPV CMC, shared that there is a need to improve the current crisis management plan of the University to better address the various challenges being faced by UPV.
Torreta, Project Development Assistant for Crisis Management and overall facilitator of the workshop, gave an overview of the activity and introduced the objectives. Prof. Ramil B. Atando, former PDA for Crisis Management, presented the existing crisis management plan of UPV, including some of the outputs from the last workshop of the committee. Meanwhile, Prof. Jessica Dator-Bercilla - UPV CMC consultant - talked about where UPV is at in terms of crisis management and disaster response.
In the afternoon session of the first day, the participants were divided into different groups and were tasked to recalibrate and revise the existing crisis management plan to make it more current. The outputs were then presented to the body for comments and suggestions.
The participants went through the Incident Command System (ICS) Executive Course, one of the flagship programs of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), on the second day of the workshop. Director Raul E. Fernandez, Regional Director of OCD VI and Chairperson of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) VI, delivered a message before the start of the first module.
Overall, the participants finished five modules: Introduction to Incident Command System (ICS) (Module 1), ICS Organization and Staffing (Module 2), ICS Facilities (Module 3), Managing Planned Events and Major Incidents (Module 4), and Common Responsibilities (Module 5). They were also subjected to a pre-test and post-test.
The facilitators of the Executive Course included Ma. Aletha A. Nogra, Chief, DRRM Division, OCD VI; Engr. Joseph Paul L. Nogra, Chief, Capacity Building and Training Section, OCD VI; Mr. Anthony Ian Andaleza, OIC Chief, Local Government Capability and Development Division, DILG VI; Ms. Rose Karen Hijosa, Nurse VI, Nursing Service Office, WVMC; SFO3 Romelo Aguilar, Municipal Fire Marshal, Municipality of Zarraga; and Ms. Cindy B. Ferrer, Head, 24/7 Operations Unit, OCD VI.
