A few days before the New Year, there are still families in some areas of Visayas and Mindanao who are staying inside evacuation centers. Welcoming 2022 will be so much different for them. There will be no gatherings, fireworks, new clothes, or sumptuous food and round fruits on the table. They may not be in their homes, but they are kept comfortable and safe inside an evacuation center. The role of an evacuation center could not be more emphasized in the aftermath of a major calamity such as Typhoon Odette. Aside from serving as an emergency go-to site during the onslaught of any calamity, an evacuation center serves as an “epicenter” for all relief activities in a town or community.  Therefore, it must be resistant to strong winds and big fires, and if possible, be located in flood-free and faultline-free zones. Highlighting the role of an evacuation center as temporary shelters of disaster-hit areas are various bills pending approval. In the Senate, for example, there is Senate Bill 1228 or the “Mandatory Evacuation Center Act,” authored by Senator Bong Go, mandating “evacuation centers in every city, municipality, and province to ensure the safety and welfare of families who are affected by natural or man-made calamities.” Filed in 2019, Go said the proposed measure “sets minimum requirements for every evacuation center, such as its location, amenities, and standard operating procedure, among others.” In a statement, Go said: “When disaster strikes, it is the poor who suffer. We need to build dedicated evacuation centers that have basic facilities and adequate emergency supplies, such as water, medicine and relief goods, so that they will no longer be jam packed in covered courts or schools.” This bill complements various versions from the House, such as House Bill 5259 or the “Permanent Evacuation Centers Bill.”  “Under House Bill 5259, our proposed evacuation centers should be typhoon, earthquake, disaster-resistant so that the victims would be safer and would not be confined in tent cities, which are exposed to the elements especially now that most houses and structures in many areas are either destroyed or heavily damaged,” said Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, who is one of the authors. According to the Zarate bill’s explanation, evacuation centers must be “located between barangays so that more people can reach them at the soonest time and may also serve as a command center for disaster response.”  It is a “departure” from the common practice of using schools and multipurpose halls as these may also be in danger-prone areas. Early this year, a related House bill was also passed, this time mandating that every city and municipality in the country should have an evacuation center. House Bill No. 8990 sought to establish “standard-based relief shelters throughout the country to ensure the safety of the citizenry especially during emergencies and disasters.” All these proposals are welcome developments. Typhoons in the scale of Odette are not the last of its kind and we may witness more stronger ones in the future due to climate change. It pays to be ready and one of the practical solutions is for the government to build stronger, sturdier, and more resilient evacuation centers especially in parts of the country prone to natural disasters. An evacuation center that is built to withstand any calamity would not only help save lives in the darkest of times, but would also bring a sense of confidence and security for all citizens in each waking hour.