The use of portable kit, dubbed as TekPak, is the highlight of evacuation drill culminating the observance of National Disaster Resilience Month on Saturday, in a community near the city’s airport that suffered the brunt of super typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
TekPak is one of the 40 innovations supported under the Tuklas
Innovation Labs, a program of Plan Philippines in disaster-hit areas. The
initiative aims to encourage ideas to meet the needs of vulnerable groups.
They are part of the five innovations from Eastern Visayas picked
to receive PHP1 million in seed capital, training, and mentorship to test their
disaster preparedness innovations from March to November 2018.
“Just like food and water, access to energy is also important in
times of disaster. It plays important role in humanitarian response and
development both in communication and medical situations,” said Jayson
Mendiola, RE-Serve Humanitarian Corps member.
RE-Serve Humanitarian Corps is a volunteer group composed of respondents
from various local government units, humanitarian organizations, community
groups and students. The group helped the community by training them on how to
use the TekPak.
“Electricity is one of the neglected aspects in disaster
preparedness. We in RE-Serve advocates the use of alternative energy in times
of disaster once the regular source of electricity backs down,” Mendiola said.
“The technology is already here and we can use it by harnessing
energy from the sun through solar panels for us to have electricity to charge
our mobile phones and other means of communication devices. This is vital to
relay information to the villages from the town center.”
Mendiola added that the ICSC is developing a handier TekPak
comparable to the size of a first-aid kit box. The solar panel is foldable and
easy to carry.
The earthquake drill coincided with the power-outage in Tacloban
that lasted for 14 hours. Participants use TekPak to charge their gadgets like
the two-way radio and mobile phones. It was also used to power nebulizers.
Village chief Emelita Montalban said they were blessed to be
selected as the site of the drill and to receive one unit of TekPak from the
humanitarian organization.
“Having this TekPak will really help our village by ensuring that
our places is lighted and communication continues because we have source of
electricity to power our communication devices even there is no power from
regular energy source,” Montalban said.
The entire Costa Brava community is classified by the City
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office as a danger zone due to its
location, which is in the middle of Cancabato Bay and San Pedro Bay.
More than 900 families in the village are still living in the
community since housing construction in resettlement areas has yet to be
finished. (RTA/LAAA/PNA)
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