Budget for gyms-cum-evacuation centers proposed

Malacañang should include an item in the proposed 2016 budget for the construction of disaster-resilient school gyms that could double as evacuation centers so that classes need not be disrupted in the aftermath of a calamity, according to Sen. Ralph Recto.

Concerned that students are always displaced when their classrooms are used to house evacuees, Recto said it was necessary to construct structures like disaster-resilient gyms could serve another purpose as a haven for distressed residents.

“We are the second most disaster-prone country in the world. Mass evacuation is a predictable event in this county. Yet against this certainty, we respond in an ad hoc manner by sequestering schools as temporary shelter when we can have a better go-to place during emergencies,” he added.

Students are the “collateral damage” in any calamity, including typhoons, fires, and gunfights in conflict areas, he said.

“When classrooms become the default evacuation areas, it creates another class of evacuees—students, whose schooling is disrupted,” he said in a statement.

He said it would be impossible to insulate schools from the misfortunes befalling the communities where these are located, but there are things that could be done to ensure these would not be the default evacuation centers.

One such scheme is constructing the disaster-proof gyms throughout the country. These would be useful to students when there are no calamities as well, he pointed out.

“What is being envisioned is a multi-purpose civic center, which can be the venue for events on ordinary days but when calamity strikes, could take in evacuees,” he said.

Recto said building dormitories for the use of evacuees during critical times would be impractical. Aside from being costly, the dormitories would hardly be useful when there are no emergencies.

“So why not adopt the Swiss-knife kind of a structure? One that can, for example, host programs during the summer, and then can hold evacuees during typhoons,” he said.

“The ideal is to have a one-gym-per-town program,” he added.

He said rescue equipment and emergency supplies could also be stockpiled in these structures, which should have provisions for water supply and toilets, considering that sanitation tends to be a problem during evacuations.

Malacañang should include the program in its proposed P3-trillion budget, said Recto.

“This should be considered disaster-mitigation spending,” he said.

In 2013, the strongest typhoon ever to make landfall, “Yolanda,” devastated a large swathof Eastern Visayas.

From 2004 to 2104, cyclones in the country left more than 14,000 dead, another 46,000 injured and P338 billion worth of property destroyed.

There were also more than 40,000 fire incidents recorded from 2010 to 2013, leaving nearly a thousand people dead.