Gatchalian refiles bill seeking evacuation centers in all cities

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has refiled a bill seeking to establish evacuation centers in all cities and municipalities of the country.

Under Senate Bill 940 or the Evacuation Center Act, new evacuation centers and schools used as evacuation centers should be able to withstand wind speeds of 320 kph and earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.2.

“Hindi na tayo dapat masanay na gumamit ng mga silid-paaralan bilang mga evacuation center, lalo na’t nakakaantala ito sa pagpapatuloy ng edukasyon matapos ang isang sakuna,” Gatchalian said in a statement.

(We should not be used to using schools as evacuation centers, especially since this hinders the resumption of classes once the disaster is over.)

He said the National Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) and local government units shall also make a priority list of LGUs that needs evacuation centers.

He added that the NDRRMC may also consider improving facilities in schools or other establishments used as evacuation centers If there is no available site for construction.

For the senator, there is also a lack of calamity-proof school buildings and classrooms.  Due to this, he said many classrooms are damaged after a typhoon or calamity, leading them to be unusable.

Gatchalian said that 380 classrooms were totally damaged and 397 were partially damaged in Western Visayas due to typhoon Odette in December 2021.

Meanwhile, 11 schools in Central Luzon, nine in the Cagayan Valley, eight in the Cordillera Administrative Region, and seven in the Ilocos Region were damaged after the earthquake in July.—Joahna Lei Casilao/AOL, GMA News