QC schools stink after giving shelter

Some Quezon City schools used as evacuation centers to shelter families fleeing flash floods earlier this week are in need of a thorough cleaning.

The campuses, which served as “evac” sites for two to three days, have acquired a similarly sounding name—a Filipino slang for excrement—thanks to occupants who had left them stinking and filthy.

Ronilo Alejo, a coordinator of the Quezon City disaster risk reduction and management office assigned to Bagong Silangan Elementary School, complained that many of the evacuees didn’t bother to clean up before heading back home and left all sorts of waste behind.

“You’ll be shocked at what you’ll find when you go there. It’s just horrible,” Alejo said. “They lack discipline. We might take two days to clean up everything.”

As of 1 p.m. Thursday, the city government said 207 families remained in the school out of the 700 families who sought refuge there starting Monday.

Lalaine Belara, one of the volunteers at the Bagong Silangan covered court where 133 families were still staying as of noon, said they had to literally “escort” people going to the toilet to make sure they would maintain cleanliness after using it.

A barangay official constantly reminded the evacuees about other people using the toilet. “If we did not do that, people here might get sick,” Belara explained.

Disaster management office chief Noel Lansang said many parts of Barangay Bagong Silangan remained underwater as of Thursday morning, with the affected residents housed in 12 evacuation centers around the village.

Overall, 2,088 families from 18 barangays were still in 38 evacuation centers across Quezon City as of late afternoon, according to Fely Corpuz of the local social services and development office. They included 836 families from Bagong Silangan and 400 from Bahay Toro.