All public schools nationwide are required to hold unannounced fire and earthquake drills every first and third week of the month, according to the newly released order by the Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday.

Under DepEd Order (DO) 53 dated Dec. 9 and signed by Education Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte, DepEd said that the mandatory drills are aligned with its commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of learners and school personnel.

“Emergencies and calamities may strike anywhere and anytime. Thus, having an effective preparedness plan is the key in preventing disasters and saving lives. Frequent practice of these drills and exercises would eventually turn these actions into automatic reflexes that would manifest during an actual calamity,” the DepEd said.

The school heads and the School Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Coordinators are in charge of planning, implementation, and regular monitoring of the drills within their respective schools.

"These drills are to ensure that all learners are properly guided on what should be done during and after an earthquake or occurrences of fire in schools," it said.

All schools in the National Capital Region, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, and Bulacan, will establish a separate and specific disaster plan for a magnitude 7 or higher earthquake, DepEd said.

“The plan shall specifically lay down the response should there be a scenario involving mass casualties of learners and personnel,” it added.

Meanwhile, DepEd said private schools, community learning centers, as well as state/local universities and colleges (SUCs/LUCs) have the discretion on whether or not to adopt the order as the basis in the conduct of their own earthquake and fire drills.