40 brgys have no evacuation center

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council admitted that at least 40 out of the 80 barangays of the city do not have an ideal evacuation center.

Councilor David Tumulak, chairman of the local disaster council, said the absence of ideal evacuation centers is affecting the passage of the proposed ordinance prescribing the guidelines on the implementation of forced evacuation during disaster or emergency.  

Tumulak said there is a need to check on the proposal because not all barangays have the ideal centers for evacuation.

As defined under Department of Interior and Local Government circular memorandum, evacuation is “an operation whereby all or part of a particular population is temporarily relocated, whether individually or in an organized manner, from an area in which a disaster or emergency has been declared and is considered dangerous for health or safety of the public.”

The Cebu City Council has referred the proposed ordinance to the CCDRRMC for comment and recommendations.

“We are still identifying the barangays nga kinahanglan palig-onon gyod ang evacuation centers, pero so far mga katunga gyod ni’s 80 ka barangay,” Tumulak said.

He said that an ideal evacuation center should be sturdy, with electricity, with comfort rooms, and should be away from further hazards and threats.

“Tanang barangays naay evacuation centers pero gamay ra kaayo ang naka-qualify sa advisable nga evacuation centers. Ang uban, walay electricity, lack of comfort rooms, surrounded with light materials, and naa pud natung-an sa densely populated area,” he said.

Tumulak said he will be releasing the list of the barangays that are yet to improve its evacuation centers. Tumulak said that as far as he knows, the executive department has allocated millions of pesos for the barangays to construct an ideal evacuation center in the 2015 Annual budget.

The City Council has given CCDRRMC a week to submit its report on the proposed ordinance authored by Councilors Ma. Nida Cabrera and Gerardo Carillo.

The authors of the proposed measure wanted to pass the ordinance, saying that the city government is committed to protect the lives and properties of its constituents as well as to mitigate the effects of man-made and natural disasters.- (FREEMAN)