Pasay eyes tent city for storm evacuees

‘YOLANDA’ REFUGEES Since Tuesday, families airlifted from the calamity areas have been arriving in batches at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City. photo by Grig C. Montegrande

As survivors fleeing the typhoon-battered Visayas region continued to arrive at Metro Manila airports, the Pasay City government is planning to provide them with temporary shelters until they are fetched by relatives or find more permanent lodgings.

In a phone interview on Saturday, city administrator Dennis Bernard Acorda said a “tent city” for the evacuees was in the works and could be set up as early as Monday.

Based on instructions coming from Mayor Antonio Calixto and the Department of Interior and Local Government, two locations were being considered in Pasay, Acorda said.

One is the Villamor Air Base Elementary School while the other is the 2,000-square meter lot near Tramo, where the Corazon Aquino High School is currently being constructed.

“We want to accommodate the evacuees coming from the Visayas and reduce the number of those crowding the airports here,” Acorda said. Pasay is host to both Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Villamor Air Base.

“We are looking at a maximum of 80 families or 400 individuals. We will be providing them with basic necessities until they are prepared to go home,” Acorda said.

Acorda said the local government started considering the setup of a tent city as early as Thursday and that some private corporations had already expressed willingness to provide the needed equipment and supplies.

On Friday alone, 150 people from hard-hit Tacloban City arrived at Villamor on a C-130 military plane. The evacuees have been arriving at the airport in batches since Tuesday.

Across the capital, aid continued to pour in for storm victims over the weekend.

Relief goods collected at the different stations of the Manila Police District (MPD) were set to be turned over Saturday to the Philippine National Police gym in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Canned goods, bottled water, noodles, medicines and used clothes donated by MPD members filled up 20 sacks and 50 boxes.

The relief drive was also one of the projects of the Manila’s Finest Non-Uniform Personnel Association, Inc. (MFNUPAI), which also mobilized last month in the aftermath of the killer earthquake that hit Bohol province.

Also in Manila, two satellite repacking sites have been opened by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

One was at Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Adriatico Street and the other was at De La Salle University on Taft Avenue.

The DSWD aims to produce two million food packs in two weeks for families in the storm-ravaged provinces.

According to the department’s website, some 87,000 food packs have been processed as of Friday by more than 15,000 volunteers since the relief repacking operation for Yolanda victims started Nov. 7.