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John Unson - Philstar.com
March 14, 2026 | 4:40pm
All soldiers in the headquarters of the Army's 10th Infantry Division in Mawab, Davao de Oro participated in Thursday's simultaneous nationwide earthquake drills.
Philstar.com / John Unson
COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Personnel of Army divisions in southern provinces capped off their earthquake drills on Thursday, March 12, with life-saving exercises as a capability-building preparation for emergencies that unpredictable tremors can cause.
Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, and his counterpart in the 10th Infantry Division, Major Gen. Alvin Luzon, led Thursday’s emergency earthquake drill in their headquarters in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte and in Mawab, Davao de Oro, respectively.
The 6th ID covers Cotabato City and the adjoining provinces of Maguindanao del Norte in the Bangsamoro region and Sultan Kudarat in Region 12 that have seaside towns where more than 5,000 residents died from tsunamis following a strong tremor that jolted both areas at almost midnight on Aug. 17, 1976.
“Our earthquake drill last Thursday was very extensive, made extensive with simulated life-saving exercises,” Cagara told reporters on Saturday, referring to the activity, held at Camp Gonzalo Siongco in Datu Sinsuat town in Maguindanao del Norte.
Luzon, who has jurisdiction over Davao del Norte, Davao de Oro and Davao Oriental provinces that were repeatedly rocked by strong earthquakes in late 2025, said their earthquake drill inside Camp Manuel Yan, Sr. in Barangay Tuboran in Mawab, was also as extensive, capped off with simulated evacuation to safe areas of persons, feigning injuries, that need immediate medical attention.
“Soldiers are, at all times, emergency frontliners, always the first to respond to calamities, disasters and rescue people trapped in armed conflicts. The need for the periodic honing of their emergency response skills through exercises like what he had last Thursday is so important,” Luzon said.
