Since the Philippines is visited by at least 20 storms/typhoons each year and landslides, quakes and huge fires are frequent occurrences, government must build evacuation centers the right way so public schools and multipurpose community basketball courts won't be used for such purpose.
Rep. Alfred C. Delos Santos (Ang Probinsiyano Partylist) authored HB7354 which highlights the urgency of adequate funding, right implementation, buildable space and multi-story evacuation centers for those displaced by typhoons, floods, landslides and even huge fires.
House Bill 7354, which the House has passed on third and final reading, is one near-term solution to improve how government keep evacuees safe while sheltering from disasters in their communities.
Properly funded and implemented, this mandate to build evacuation centers the right waycan radically change how government builds multi-purpose facilities that often serve as evacuation centers. Right now, the sports venues and schools are the default evacuation centers.
The impact on schools is especially disruptive because while the evacuees are on campus, classes cannot resume, delayed, or are affected—further complicating the lives of the residents and students.
HB 7354 sets standards and parameters involving site location and facilities design, so this early the implementors should be crafting the beginnings of the frameworks of the implementing rules and regulations.
Many schools, especially those in the provinces, have spacious open grounds on which permanent evacuation centers can be built.
My preference is for the designs of these evacuation centers to be multi-storey, so they do not use up all the open spaces which the schools also need for their activities. Build upwards and build better by having evacuations that will not crumble or collapse when there are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods.
For urban centers where land area or buildable space is lacking, the solution is also to build upwards to maximize limited space.
The new evacuation centers must be the strongest, most disaster resilient structures in the barangays.
Locations with high-risk of disasters will have to be prioritized which means those places where typhoons usually make landfall, where flooding and landslides will most like happen, and where there are nearby volcanoes and earthquake fault lines. The evacuation centers must be built away from those high-risk areas.
Mauuna dapat tayuan ng bagong evacuation centers ang mga barangay na madalas tamaan ng mga kalamidad. Pinakamatibay na establisyimento dapat ang evacuation center sa isang lugar kaya dapat maayos ang pagkakagawa sa mga ito.
Tags: #evacuationcenters, #buildtheproperway, #fundingandamenities