Author­i­ties held earth­quake drills nation­wide on Thurs­day April 21, in prepa­ra­tion train­ing for a dis­as­ter, and the Philip­pines Ama­teur Radio Asso­ci­a­tion (PARA) HERO net­work was involved. 

HERO stands for Ham Emer­gency Radio Oper­a­tions and is the net­work that trains and has been involved in many disasters. 

Jojo Vicen­cio DU1VHY says the HERO net­work is well recog­nised by author­i­ties from the nation­al reg­u­la­tor, dis­as­ter man­age­ment and served agencies. 

In the wake of major earth­quakes in Japan, Ecuador, and Myan­mar, and with a vol­cano explo­sion in Mex­i­co, the Office of Civ­il Defence, with the Nation­al Dis­as­ter Risk Reduc­tion and Man­age­ment Coun­cil, asked all Fil­ipinos to be aware and prepare. 

While earth­quakes of magnitude‑5 and under have struck around the Philip­pines in recent weeks, offi­cials are more con­cerned about the West Val­ley Fault which takes in Metro Manila. 

Experts have repeat­ed­ly warned that this fault has not moved sig­nif­i­cant­ly in the last 400 years, and is due for some movement. 

The Philip­pines Ama­teur Radio Asso­ci­a­tion was invit­ed by the Unit­ed Methodist Com­mu­ni­ca­tions (UMCOM) to par­tic­i­pate in the drill. 

PARA Chief Oper­at­ing Offi­cer Thel­ma Pas­cua DU1IVT along with hams from club sta­tions of the Barka­da Ama­teur Radio Club DX2BBB and the Ama­teur Radio Move­ment ARMI DX2ARM, dis­played Ama­teur Radio equip­ment and prac­tice dur­ing the event. 

From UMCOMM, April Mer­ca­do DV1YIN expressed her grat­i­tude for the sup­port of the training. 

Praise also came from the Unit­ed Nations Office for the Coor­di­na­tion of Human­i­tar­i­an Affairs (UN OCHA) that spoke of the PARA, Barka­da and ARMI for their sup­port and par­tic­i­pa­tion at the earth­quake simulation. 

— Jim Lin­ton VK3PC, IARU Region 3 Chair­man, Dis­as­ter Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Committee