With evacuees of the Taal Volcano eruption in mind, President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the construction of additional evacuation centers that can withstand calamities as strong as Super Typhoon “Yolanda” before his term ends in 2022.
At the Taal situation briefing in Batangas City on Tuesday night, the President said the government should give priority to the establishment of the shelters in calamity-prone areas such as Western Visayas.
“You build a very strong evacuation center. Not as strong as the Titanic and then saying that even God cannot sink this ship because God will really destroy your evacuation center,” Duterte said.
“Just have something really strong that can withstand the…What’s the strongest then? Yolanda, yes,” he added.
The President said the evacuation centers should accommodate large numbers of evacuees where comfort rooms for men and women are segregated.
“It’s going to be like something 10 rooms for the women and 10 rooms for the children but separate and far from each other—at the other end,” Duterte added.
He also said the evacuation centers that will be built in Mindanao should have separate kitchens for Muslims and Christians.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte echoed the President’s call for the construction of permanent evacuation centers.
Gatchalian said it would avoid taking a toll of students and teachers whose schools were being used as evacuation centers, and Villafuerte said they must be built in places highly vulnerable to natural calamities.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, however, lamented the reported overpricing and ghost deliveries involving calamity funds despite President Duterte personally supervising the government’s anti-corruption campaign.
READ: Duterte assures funds enough to help victims
During the briefing, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told the President that the government has a standard model for evacuation centers approved by the Cabinet last year.
The President reminded Cabinet members not to initiate projects that cannot be completed before his term ends.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, meanwhile, said they have issued a list of essential medicines under automatic price freeze in all areas affected by Taal’s eruption.
He said the DOH received reports of individuals and establishments that hoard and sell essential commodities at jacked up prices.
Duque said the mandate of the Department of Health to protect the Filipino people against life-threatening situations, including those that prevent them from seeking the right and adequate products and services when they need it the most.
“It is abhorrent that there are people who take advantage of public emergencies and profit at the expense of our suffering of countrymen,” said Duque.
He said the price freeze covers maintenance medicines and essential drugs including analgesics, anti-allergics, anticonvulsants, antiseptics, antidotes, and antibiotics, among others.
The DOH and the Department of Trade and Industry have also recommended to the Office of the President the imposition of price ceilings on N95 and disposable face masks, nebulizers and nebulization kits, oxygen cannulas, and safety goggles.
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On Tuesday, the President and his aide Senator Christopher Go visited an evacuation center in Batangas City where 1,214 families affected by the volcano’s eruption were taking refuge.
Together with other key officials, the President led the discussion on how to address and mitigate issues that the country is currently facing, especially with the possibility of Taal Volcano erupting again soon.
The senator also participated in the relief operations and the situational briefing.
Go recently filed a bill providing for mandatory construction of permanent evacuation centers in all cities, provinces, and municipalities nationwide.
“The Philippines is highly vulnerable to natural hazards, attributed primarily to the country’s location. The country is positioned along the so-called ‘Pacific Ring of Fire,’ an area where earthquakes and volcanic activities are more frequent than in any other part of the world,” Go said in his bill.
The Department of Education reported that some 7 million students were affected by Taal Volcano’s eruption. In a statement, the DepEd said 7,094,165 students in 7,542 schools belonging to 57 divisions under four regions were affected since classes were suspended in all levels on Monday.
Of the four regions, Region 3 (Central Luzon) had the most number of school divisions affected with 20, followed by Region 4-A (Calabarzon) with 19, National Capital Region with 16, and Region 4-B (Mimaropa) with two.
• The Department of Agriculture said farmers and fishermen who lost crops and livestock to the Taal Volcano eruption could get zero-interest loans from the government.
The offer was in contrast to a call by a fishermen’s group earlier that the government indemnify the fishermen for their losses instead of saddling them with more debt. Across the Calabarzon region, the volcano’s unrest left P577.4 million in initial damage to agriculture, including some 2,700 hectares of farmland and almost 2,000 animals, the department estimated.
READ: Ashfall destroys P578 million in coffee, other cash crops, livestock and infra
• Senator Nancy Binay on Wednesday urged government financial agencies and offices to grant a loan payment moratorium of six months to a year to those affected by the ongoing eruption of Taal Volcano.
• Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta on Wednesday said employees of the judiciary affected by the Taal Volcano eruption are allowed to avail of the special five-day emergency leave.
In a memorandum circular, the chief justice said all employees of the judiciary affected by the recent volcanic eruption of Taal Volcano are entitled to the five-day calamity leave starting Monday, Jan.13, 2020, in accordance to Civil Service Commission Memorandum Circular No. 2 s. 2012.
Peralta said the calamity leave can be used for five straight working days or on a staggered basis and should not be deducted from the employee’s leave credits.
• Environmentalist group Ecowaste Coalition on Wednesday reminded the public to avoid exposure to volcanic ash as the restive Taal Volcano continues to spews ash over a vast area.
The group prodded the people, especially those who are already suffering from respiratory ailments, to prevent or reduce exposure to volcanic ash, which it stated may cause a number of health problems, including nose, throat, eye and skin irritation, breathing discomfort, coughing, and bronchitis-like illness.
It added injuries or death may also result from roof collapse due to ash accumulation or from vehicular accidents due to poor visibility and slippery roads. With Rey E. Requejo, Macon Ramos-Araneta, Joel Zurbano, and Roy Tomandao
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