Alliance of Concerned Teachers Rep. France Castro. (FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro on Sunday urged the Senate to prioritize the passage of its version of the measure calling for the establishment of evacuation centers nationwide amid the threats and looming effects of Typhoon Betty.
According to Castro, the passage of the counterpart measure of the House Permanent Evacuation Centers bill should be considered “as urgent” over the Maharlika Investment Fund Act.
“Sa lakas ng [Typhoon] Betty ay malamang na di lang libo-libong Filipino ang maapektuhan nito at baka umabot pa sa milyon. Nakakalungkot na cinertify as urgent ni Pangulong [Ferdinand] Marcos Jr. ang Maharlika Investment Fund pero ang panukala tulad ng Permanent Evacuation Centers bill na halos isang dekada na nang unang ipanukala ng Bayan Muna ay di pa din nagiging batas, samantalang amakakapagligtas ito ng buhay ng napakarami nating kababayan,” said the Deputy Minority leader lamented in a statement.
(Typhoon Betty’s strength may affect thousands of Filipinos, but it may even reach a million. Sadly, President Marcos Jr. prioritizes the passage of the Maharlika Investment Fund instead of the Permanent Evacuation Centers bill proposed by Bayan Muna for almost a decade now, even though it will save the lives of many Filipinos.)
Castro’s statement came after Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri announced on May 27 that the Senate is expected to approve the Maharlika Investment Fund Act on the third and final reading before the adjournment of the 19th Congress’ first regular session.
Zubiri’s announcement stemmed from Marcos’ letter to him last May 22, certifying the bill as urgent.
In the same statement, Castro explained that the consolidated House Bill 7354 aims to establish evacuation centers in cities and municipalities nationwide “that shall provide immediate and temporary accommodation for people who have been displaced or evacuated from their homes due to disasters, calamities, or other emergency events.”
Among those consolidated was the Makabayan bloc’s Permanent Evacuation Centers in Every City and Municipality Bill or House Bill 5152, which was first filed by Bayan Muna in the 16th Congress and was approved in the third and final reading by the House of Representatives in the 18th Congress.
“Even now, schools and covered courts are the ones being used for evacuation centers. This will, of course, disrupt the learning of students and these structures are most often not designed to be disaster resilient,” Castro said.
“We hope that now, Malacanang and the leadership of the Senate would heed our call to expedite the passage of a similar bill, and Malacanang should classify the bill as urgent,” the Makabayan solon added.
“We would have preferred disaster-resilient permanent evacuation centers for every two or three barangays as contained in HB 5152, but this was the one agreed to, and it is still a good start.
We hope that the Senate can expedite their version so that this much-needed bill can finally be passed and its implementation can still be included in the national budget for 2024 before more lives are lost due to calamities,” she furthered.
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