SAN JOSE, Northern Samar – The town’s evacuation center funded by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will become a functional structure.
Thus said Mayor Clarence Dato who said that the two-storey facility will house the municipal government’s disaster risk reduction management office, municipal social welfare and development office, and a warehouse.
Dato said they need to make the building functional considering that it’s not every day that it would be occupied by evacuees as this could only be used during a disaster situation.
“This will address the needs of our town to have facility that will house our responders together with equipment and goods needed by evacuees,” the town mayor said.
Dato said that since they now have a structure where they can store relief goods, they could now ask from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for stock of relief supplies for the pre-positioning of goods.
The evacuation center, which can accommodate around 100 evacuees, was built by the DILG through its Local Government Support Fund- Assistance to Municipalities Program in the amount of P10.96 million.
Under the said program, municipalities are able to access government support funds that would help them implement as well as subsidize projects identified in their Local Development Investment Plans (LDIP) given that they are compliant with the requirements of the seal of good financial housekeeping, local development council functionality and public financial management system as requirement for fund access and allocation.
“We are very thankful to the DILG for being sensitive to the needs of every municipalities. This facility will make us ready whenever there is an impending disaster and this will help us in institutionalizing our disaster risk reduction and management office,” Mayor Dato said.
Dato added that the residents of the town, spread on its 16 villages, have a high level of awareness especially those living along areas identified as prone or susceptible to disasters.
“We are not only prepared for typhoons but we will also conducts regular earthquake drill,” Mayor Dato said.
Aside from the municipal level, seminar on disaster risk reduction is also conducted in the barangay level for the officials in the barangays to be able to formulate their barangay disaster risk reduction and management plans.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
