Last Updated on January 31, 2020

Disaster preparedness in Quezon City has been improved with the completion of a new evacuation center in Barangay Greater Fairview. Residents affected by a calamity can receive immediate assistance and live with decency as evacuees thanks to the amenities provided in the shelter.

According to DPWH National Capital Region (NCR) Director Ador Canlas’ report to Secretary Mark Villar, the four-story center is complete with necessary facilities to increase comfort for future occupants. It includes toilet and shower rooms, a centralized kitchen, stock room, laundry and drying area, roof deck, and garbage segregation facility. The bathrooms have separate areas for men and women.

Evacuees who have health concerns can also go to the center’s own infirmary and pharmacy. Improving safety and security in the premises, the facility has a paging system room with security cameras, a generator, a fire alarm system, and a fire exit. A wheelchair ramp and elevator are also part of the new center, which are especially designed with persons with disabilities (PWD) in mind.

In addition, the report shows that the facility holds 156 beds. One bed is allotted to one family. Mothers who have infants can use the breastfeeding room for better privacy.

Funded under the 2018 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the evacuation center project costs P58 million and was implemented by Quezon City I District Engineering Office (DEO).

The Rise of Evacuation Centers

According to DPWH, more than 200 evacuation centers will be finished this 2020, GMA Network reported recently. Villar shared that the goal of the department is to set up at least two centers in every province. He noted, however, that there will be more centers constructed as there will be additional budget.

President Duterte earlier urged the Congress to allocate funds to build emergency shelters in areas often hit by calamities, such as those facing the Pacific Ocean. He said he wanted these infrastructures built before the end of his term in 2022. Following the Taal volcano eruption, he also asked lawmakers to pass a P30-billion supplemental budget for the rehabilitation of communities and assistance to families displaced by the disaster.

Last year, Senator Bong Go filed a bill seeking to establish a mandatory evacuation center in all cities, provinces, and municipalities. In the proposed law, the facilities should be able to withstand super typhoons or wind speeds of at least 300 kilometers per hour and seismic activity of at least 8.0 magnitude.

Among the basic amenities mandated in the bill are sleeping quarters for evacuees, separate shower and toilet areas, emergency exit doors, food preparation zones with adequate ventilation, and convenient access for the disabled. The health care facilities, meanwhile, should have quarantine spaces for potentially infectious people. The proposed law also requires rainwater harvesting and collection facilities.

Under the Act, local government units will be primarily responsible for managing and supervising the emergency shelters. The budget for the construction and maintenance will come from the general appropriations of the DPWH.

Newly Developed, Soon-to-Rise Emergency Shelters

Outside Metro Manila, the DPWH has finished several evacuation centers. The agency recently completed the regional evacuation center in Catbalogan, Samar. The facility can serve up to 150 households from the city and neighboring towns, as reported in Business World. Amounting to P36-million, the project included the construction of toilets, laundry areas, and a pharmacy, among other amenities.

Up north, an evacuation center in Manaoag, Pangasinan recently opened. According to Philippine Information Agency (PIA), the shelter has a two-storey accommodation building and a separate toilet and bathroom building for men and women. Also part of the design are the three-storey laundry-drying area and water tank building, and three single-storey buildings for the generator, garbage disposal, and pump room. The DPWH integrated green engineering into the project, installing solar-powered light posts.

Other than housing displaced residents, the shelter will serve as a site for recreational activities, relief goods distribution, feeding programs, and medical missions.

Meanwhile, there are also some centers nearing completion. In November 2019, Mindanao Daily Mirror reported that the shelter being built in Barangay Cabatangan, Zamboanga City is 65 percent finished already. Authorities expect it to be fully accomplished by the first quarter of 2020.

The evacuation center has three buildings, which can accommodate 500 families.

Near the shelter is the Command and Control Center that is also being constructed. Stretching over 8,000 square meters of floor area, the three-story structure will be the biggest command center in the Philippines. It will be the main headquarters of first responders, including the security forces.

Sources: DPWH, GMA Network, Senate.gov.ph, Business World, PIA, Mindanao Daily Mirror

Main photo via DPWH

This article was first published at Lamudi.com.ph