2 lawmakers propose permanent evacuation sites

Typhoon survivors continue to seek shelter inside the Redemptorist church, serving as an evacuation center which has been almost totally dependent on relief for nearly three weeks Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Tacloban city, Leyte province in central Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, hit the country’s eastern seaboard Nov. 8, leaving a wide swath of destruction. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Two party-list lawmakers are proposing the establishment of permanent evacuation sites for every two or three contiguous barangays nationwide to prevent any more catastrophes similar to what Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) left.

Representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate of the Bayan Muna party-list group have filed a bill seeking the creation of the evacuation centers to accommodate the populations of contiguous communities before natural calamities such as typhoons strike.

“In the absence still of a comprehensive disaster reduction and risk plan, it is imperative that evacuation centers be constructed in a location that serves as center to two or three contiguous barangays, strong enough to withstand typhoons like Yolanda and are climate-change-adaptive,” they said.

Under House Bill 3648, the evacuation centers would be designed by experts to withstand supertyphoons or be calamity-resilient and built with sturdy materials.

It identifies the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council as the lead agency in ensuring that the requirements for such an evacuation center are met.

“Each location for every evacuation center shall be chosen and prepared by the concerned local government units in coordination with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau,” according to the bill.

In an explanatory note, Colmenares and Zarate said the measure would do away with the practice of designating schools as evacuation centers.

“The problem is that schools are not made to accommodate families in distress because these are not usually equipped with enough facilities such as comfort rooms, kitchens, or sleeping areas to lessen the discomfort of families having to leave their homes to save their lives,” they said.

The lawmakers added that using schools as evacuation centers would often delay a community’s return to normalcy as children could not resume their studies, and families could not yet vacate the school premises pending the repair or reconstruction of their houses.

As a lesson from Super Typhoon Yolanda, which ravaged Eastern Visayas last year, evacuation centers should be constructed in areas not prone to flooding or landslides, Colmenares and Zarate said.