Rama asks P-Noy for use of Malacañang sa Sugbo as disaster response center

THE heavy rains last Wednesday has underscored the need to have a command center to coordinate disaster response in Cebu City.

Mayor Michael Rama yesterday directed his chief of staff Philip Zafra to draft a letter to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to ask permission for the use of a portion of the Malacañang sa Sugbo as the city’s disaster response command center.

“Mas maayo ug advanced ang atong panghuna huna kay sa mo abot ang panahon nga ma problema na hinoon ta,” he said.

(It would be good to have foresight now rather have problems in the future.)
Also learning from the experience last Wednesday where the mayor ordered the cancellation of classes because of heavy rains spawned by Tropical Depression Crising, Rama wants to meet with officials of different schools in the city to brief them of his administration’s policy of declaring suspension of classes during extreme weather events.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) issued a yellow alert or moderate to heavy rainfall alert last Wednesday.

Mayor Rama said he would not want a repeat of the situation where some private schools refused to heed his order to suspend classes in all levels.

He said that he did not make the declaration on his own. He had an early morning talk with Pagasa head Oscar Tabada who warned him of heavy rains.

“It was already a worrisome situation and I was telling the disaster that we should not wait for an incident to happen before acting,” Rama said.

Rama admitted that he cannot force schools to suspend classes, but he wanted to have their cooperation as much as possible in order to ensure the safety of students.