Iloilo City Hall workers called out for ‘just a drill’ mindset

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

A lack of seriousness and a “drill-only” mindset among some employees emerged as a major concern during the Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) at Iloilo City Hall on Thursday, June 18.

During a post-drill assessment, floor coordinators and marshals pointed to what they described as a prevailing “drill-only mindset” among employees, which they said could prove dangerous during an actual earthquake.

“First and foremost, employees are not taking the drill seriously,” one coordinator said during the feedback session.

The coordinator noted that workers on the ground floor were moving too slowly despite repeated instructions to evacuate quickly.

“We told them to hurry because the evacuation target is three minutes […] If this were an actual earthquake, that pace would be far too slow,” the coordinator added.

A coordinator assigned to the fourth floor echoed the observation.

“I was giving instructions through the call signs, but some employees would simply say, ‘It’s okay, it’s just a drill,'” the coordinator said.

Other evaluators observed that many participants continued to view the exercise as a routine drill rather than a simulation of a life-threatening emergency.

“The mindset is still that we’re just having a drill,” another marshal remarked.

Coordinators noted that evacuation bottlenecks became apparent on the third and fourth floors, as employees from the upper levels were slowed by the pace of those evacuating from the lower floors.

Ricardo Escanlar, co-coordinator of the city’s Earthquake Management Plan, said two major issues emerged from the drill based on his own observations and feedback from marshals: the lack of urgency among some employees and inadequate adherence to earthquake safety protocols.

He noted that some personnel started evacuating while the earthquake siren was still sounding, despite prior instructions that the siren signified ongoing ground shaking.

“There are others that, even though they were told to evacuate, their pace downstairs is still slow, and they are not protecting the most important part of their body, which is their head, before reaching the safe zone,” he said.

He added that one of the biggest challenges is changing not only the mindset of City Hall employees but also that of Filipinos in general when it comes to earthquake preparedness.

“Many people are still not fully aware of what could happen during a major earthquake because they have not personally experienced one. As a result, they do not remain alert. Despite the earthquakes that have already been felt in Panay and the stronger tremors recorded in Mindanao, awareness remains insufficient,” Escanlar said.

“These drills are not merely exercises. They are opportunities for us to learn and practice what to do during an actual earthquake,” he said.

Despite the concerns raised during the evaluation, disaster officials noted significant improvements in evacuation time during the drill.

According to Darwin Joemil Papa, chief of the Emergency Response Division of the Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, City Hall completed its evacuation in five minutes and 58 seconds, a marked improvement from the more than eight minutes recorded during last year’s drill.

Papa said the evacuation time was still above the agency’s target of around four minutes based on its time-and-motion study, largely due to congestion in the stairways.

Coordinators and marshals also reported no major problems in employees leaving their respective offices and proceeding to evacuation areas, but recommended deploying additional marshals in stairwells to better manage the flow of evacuees.

Officials also noted that employees generally knew where to proceed after evacuation and were familiar with the designated open spaces and assembly areas for earthquake emergencies.

The NSED is conducted every quarter by the Office of Civil Defense under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, pursuant to Republic Act 10121, the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010. The June 18 exercise was the second of four drills scheduled for 2026, with the remaining rounds set for Sept. 10 and Nov. 5.