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With strong typhoons becoming more commonplace, Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte is urging the government to establish resilient mega evacuation centers (ECs) in order to shelter the multitude of people who will be displaced from their homes. 

“It’s time for the national government to work with LGUs (local government units) in putting up permanent climate-proof and fully-equipped mega ECs [on] elevated places to ensure that evacuees have safe and fully-equipped temporary shelters to go to whenever typhoons and other natural calamities strike," Villafuerte said.

“This can actually happen sooner than later as both chambers of the Congress are putting the finishing touches to a proposed law—the “Ligtas Pinoy Centers Act”— for submission to President Marcos on the creation of storm-resilient permanent ECs in all cities and municipalities across the country,” noted the National Unity Party (NUP) president.

Camarines Sur was among the provinces hard-hit by severe tropical storm Kristine last October.

With Kristine dumping two months’ worth of rainfall in a single day in Camarines Sur and other places in Bicol, Villafuerte said that his province suffered its worst flooding ever, with many communities in his province submerged for the first time in floodwaters reaching above people’s heads or even the roofs of their houses.

“Hence, the need for mega ECs big enough to accommodate more and more evacuees and that are built on high or elevated places free from floods, with priority given to high-risk cities and municipalities," he said.

Bicol has also been grappling with the effects of typhoons "Leon", "Marce", and "Pepito", which closely followed after Kristine. 

The proposed “Ligtas Pinoy Centers” bill, principally introduced by House Speaker Martin Romualdez and co-authored by Villafuerte, tasks the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to work with local government units (LGUs) in identifying, among others, the flood-prone cities or municipalities that should be prioritized in the construction of permanent ECs or the selection of existing facilities that could be upgraded into durable and lasting shelters for evacuees in times of cyclones and other natural disasters.

Under this measure, the ECs must be calamity-resilient, built with sturdy materials, and in accordance with the specifications of Republic Act (RA) No. 6541, or the National Building Code of 1972, or shall be at par with the standards set by the International Building Code.

According to the NDRRMC, Kristine and Leon had displaced 617,168 people, with 158,697 of them sheltered in 566 evacuation centers as of Nov. 12. 

Villafuerte notes that the policy of preemptive evacuation is being practiced in Camarines Sur under the leadership of Governor Luigi Villafuerte. 

“Once a consolidated version of both approved EC measures is hammered out, the enrolled bill can be ratified by the two  chambers and then submitted to Malacañan for the President’s approval and signature into law,” Villafuerte said. 

Villafuerte expressed the hope that the would-be enrolled bill for submission for the President's signature would contain the provision of HB No.7354 giving LGU executives a big say in identifying and then running these proposed permanent ECs in their respective localities.

“The use of public schools and even churches as temporary shelters for evacuees will continue being a nagging woe whenever a killer storm or any other disaster or calamity hits us until such time that we have permanent ECs run by LGUs in every city and municipality and that are built with adequate facilities and ready for increasingly erratic and destructive weather caused by climate change," he said.