THE government has completed the construction of 299 of 392 planned evacuation centers nationwide, with the rest expected to be done within the year, Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHUSD) Secretary Eduardo del Rosario said yesterday.
In a radio interview, Del Rosario said three of the completed evacuation centers are located in Mataas na Kahoy, Sta. Teresita, and Alitagtag in Batangas, adding they can accommodate the residents around the Taal volcano in case of more evacuations.
He said President Duterte is set to visit and inspect one of the completed evaluation centers in Batangas to see if it meets his specification, if it needs additional facilities, or could be replicated in other areas.
The President is expected to visit the Mataas na Kahoy evacuation center and distribute assistance to the evacuees in Agoncillo today, Monday.
The completed evacuation center is around 1,500 square meters which can house 150 families of four or five members. It includes at least 41 comfort rooms with separate shower rooms, a mess hall, a kitchen, and a prayer room.
Del Rosario said P14.3 billion has been allotted for the construction of the evacuation centers, which include 198 completed in Luzon, 74 in the Visayas and 120 in Mindanao.
He said the President mentioned during a meeting last week that there may be some funds that can be tapped to construct more evacuation centers.
He said the construction of 92 more evacuation centers are still ongoing while one has yet to start and is expected to be completed within the year.
Del Rosario said while the Batangas evacuation centers are ready, it has yet to be used since the current evacuation centers put up and used by different local government units (LGUs) in Batagas can still accommodate the current evacuees.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development-Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DSWD-DROMIC) said that as of 6 p.m. of April 2, there were 1,192 families or 4,085 persons still staying in 21 evacuation centers and 1,253 families or 4,250 persons temporarily staying with their relatives or friends following the Taal eruption.
