PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — A PHP20-million evacuation center building will soon rise in Taytay town, northern Palawan, as part of its disaster risk reduction management measures.
The fund will be provided by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) under the Local Government’s Assistance to Disadvantaged Municipalities (LGADM) program, Taytay Mayor Romy Salvame said Monday afternoon.
“The budget has already been downloaded to the municipal government to build an evacuation center that can be multipurpose in times of disasters,” he said.
Salvame said Taytay had been identified as one of the most flood-prone areas in the province in the Provincial Climate Change Action Plan 2017-2023 along with the southern Palawan towns of Quezon and Narra.
“The facility is needed to house evacuees from barangays vulnerable to floodings, such as Abongan, Bato, Busy Bees, and Cataban,” the mayor said.
He said the recent typhoon that affected Taytay was Agaton, which caused many residents in coastal areas to relocate due to storm surges.
“Mostly, they are coastal and island barangays vulnerable to storm surges,” he said, adding this is really a challenge in disaster response in Taytay.
Taytay is a first class municipality in the northern area of the province with more than 75,000 residents based on the 2015 census. (Keith Anthony Fabro/PNA)