A lawmaker on Tuesday stressed the need to build permanent evacuation centers with priority given to calamity-prone areas in light of Typhoon Odette’s onslaught in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said part of the PHP10 billion that President Rodrigo Duterte committed for relief efforts for provinces severely affected by “Odette” should be used to fund the construction of permanent evacuation sites.

Villafuerte noted the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year has displaced around 400,000 people.

“As early as 2018, when a strong typhoon also hit Luzon at that time, I have been proposing the construction of permanent evacuation centers in strategic parts of the country. I hope that the President who earlier bared a similar plan for the simultaneous setting up of durable evacuation centers in disaster-prone areas, would be able to execute his plan before the end of his term,” Villafuerte said.

Acting presidential spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has vowed to raise additional funds, estimated at PHP10 billion, for the rehabilitation and recovery efforts in the typhoon-affected areas.

The House of Representatives has passed House Bill 8990, which proposes the construction of permanent evacuation centers across the country.

Villafuerte appealed to senators to immediately consider passing a counterpart bill for the benefit of would-be displaced families in future natural calamities.

Under the measure, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will be in charge of building the evacuation sites, while local city and municipal governments shall be responsible for running and maintaining the centers.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) will serve as the lead agency.

Villafuerte, who was among the principal authors of the bill, said building these evacuation centers will avoid the situation wherein families dislocated because of natural calamities become stuck in public schools or other temporary shelters without adequate facilities for months after their dislocation.

He said the construction of climate-resilient evacuation centers should top the concerns of the would-be Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR), so the government could best achieve its zero-casualty goal as this office and other concerned government agencies could fully implement preemptive evacuation, especially of people in coastal and mountainous communities. (PNA)