DFA Joins ASEAN 3rd Regional Collaboration Drill in Manila
MANILA 11 December 2018 — Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Affairs and ASEAN-Philippines National Secretariat Director General Junever M. Mahilum-West represented the Department of Foreign Affairs in the ASEAN 3rd Regional Collaboration Drill (RCD), held on 03-05 December 2018 in Manila.
The 3rd RCD was also participated in by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and EMTs from the ten ASEAN member states.
It consisted of a two-day tabletop exercise and one-day field exercise, and examined the current draft regional collaboration mechanism on disaster health management and tools, aimed at further enhancing the emergency medical teams (EMT) operations at all levels in terms of command and control, coordination and collaboration, and communication.
The exercise is also in line with the country’s preparation to respond to a possible 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Metro Manila, and is part of the observance of 06 December 2018 as the “National Health Emergency Preparedness Day”.
The 3rd RCD was organized by the Department of Health (DOH) as part of the ASEAN Regional Capacity on Disaster Health Management (ARCH), an activity initiated by the National Institute for Emergency-Thailand in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
The ARCH Project is in line with the ASEAN Declaration on Disaster Health Management, which was adopted by ASEAN leaders during the 31st Summit in Manila on 13 November 2017.
The first RCD was hosted by Thailand in June 2017, followed by the second edition staged by Viet Nam in March 2018. END