DAVAO CITY — To ensure that the conduct of the 39th Kadayawan Festival this month is peaceful and safe, the city’s safety and security cluster conducted a surprise two-part simulation exercise (SIMEX) in two critical areas of the city on Wednesday.

The first scenario simulated an unattended baggage containing an improvised explosive device (IED) that was left at the Dumalag road junction of the Davao City Coastal Road.

The baggage was spotted by a civilian who immediately reported it to a passing patrol car. A team with the K9 unit was immediately dispatched to secure the area.

The second scenario simulated an IED explosion outside the Central Convenience Store on Roxas Avenue which caused multiple casualties.

The Kadayawan opened yesterday with big events such as the Ironman 70.3 race on 11 August and Pamulak sa Kadayawan and Indak-indak on 18 August which is also the closing of the celebration.

Thousands of spectators and participants of the events are expected to flock to the city’s major streets.

Present during the SIMEX were personnel from the Task Force Davao (TFD), Davao City Police Office (DCPO), Public Safety and Security Office (PSSO), 911 EMS, City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Regional Forensic Unit 11 (RFU XI), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA XI), Traffic Enforcement Unit (TEU), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Regional Maritime Unit (RMU XI), Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM) and Tactical Operations Group (TOG 11).

Col. Darren Comia, the commander of TFD, said the SIMEX intends to test the effectiveness of the Culture of Security and Anti-Terror Campaign of the city as well as to assess the readiness and coordination of the safety and security cluster and other concerned units.

He added that the SIMEX was also conducted to further ensure the safety and security of the month-long celebration of the 39th Kadayawan Festival.