UP Mindanao constituents participated in the 3rd National Simultaneous Earthquake Drill on campus on September 11, 2025, in compliance with University President Angelo Jimenez’s Memorandum No. PAJ 25-02, requiring all UP units to participate, document their drills, and submit a report to the UP Resilience Institute (UP RI).
For this drill, UP Mindanao mobilized its Incident Command System (ICS), composed of personnel assigned to various task groups, under an Incident Commander. On this occasion, some personnel were also mobilized to serve as independent evaluators who were supplied with the survey instrument. Constituents in all the main buildings conducted drills in their respective locations, although the evaluators were confined to the administrative building.
The alarm sounded at exactly 4:00 p.m., and the Incident Command System was activated with Public Relations Officer Mr. Rene Estremera standing in as Incident Commander. Simultaneously, the evaluators were activated to begin their observations.
At the sound of the alarm, personnel adopted the “duck-cover-and-hold” pose under their tables. Upon the end of the alarm, they filed out of their offices into the corridor hurriedly but without running. The second alarm, signalling aftershocks, sounded, which the constituents complied with by assuming the “duck-cover-and-hold” position beside the corridor walls. After the second alarm ended, the constituents evacuated the building quickly and assembled at the evacuation area, the open space before the administration building. The building evacuation was completed in three minutes, at 4:03 p.m.
These evacuees comprised faculty members and students of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), housed in the right wing of the administration building, and administrative personnel and some School of Management constituents, all housed in the left wing.
At that moment, the Incident Commander announced the setting up of the Incident Command Post around himself and called for the convergence of the Search and Rescue, Medical Treatment, and Building Inspection teams. The Incident Commander introduced the ICS teams and their functions to the evacuated constituents, after which the teams were dispatched to carry out their respective tasks.
At this point, the Incident Commander introduced the headcount period. There being a shortage of available personnel, the commander initiated the headcount among the CHSS constituents. He counted a total of 109 students and some faculty members. Acting Deputy Incident Commander Bob Navarrete conducted the headcount among the administrative personnel. The headcount took a total of 12 minutes.
At this point, the Building Inspection and the Search-And-Rescue teams completed their rounds and reported “no structural issues” and “no casualties,” respectively.
Consequently, the Incident Commander issued the “All Clear” announcement and directed the evacuees to return to their respective building stations.
The entire drill took a total of 19 minutes, including the 12 minutes devoted to the headcount.
Students assume the “cover” pose at the evacuation site
