DOES a roofed structure qualify as an “evacuation center” even if it has no walls or partitions and offers little protection from wind and rain during typhoon season?
For the Commission on Audit (COA), open-air structures that “expose people to the very hazards meant to be prevented” but provide only shade from the sun does not fully comply with the requirement of an evacuation center as defined by law.
But the provincial government of Samar, which has erected five such structures, believes otherwise. It insisted that what it built to the tune of P2.8 million to P3.1 million each were “evacuation centers cum multi-purpose centers.”
Based on the list provided by the audit team, three of the open-sided structures are located in Barangays Magdawat, Managing, and San Isidro all in the municipality of Pinabacdao, while two others are in Barangays Mabuligon and Mahanun in the town of Matuguinao.
The cost of all these structures were charged against Samar’s Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund (LDRRMF).
“How could open-air structures be properly charged against the LDRRMF, as the purpose of the construction may not be within the context of ‘disaster preparedness’ as defined by the law?” the audit team asked.
Ideally, projects under the LDRRMF are supposed to “effectively anticipate, respond to or would aid evacuees to recover from the impacts of hazard events like calamities or armed conflicts to fall under the category of disaster mitigation or disaster prevention.”
The audit team explained that while the open-sided structures protect people from the sun and rain, it will not be much of a shelter in case of typhoons accompanied by strong winds and heavy rains.
It recommended that Samar Gov. Sharee Ann Tan advise the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer (PDRRMO) that construction of open-air structures should no longer be included in the Annual Plan and Budget under the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.
In its letter-reply dated April 3, 2024 to the audit recommendation, the PDRRMO invoked the Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 s. 2013 of the Department of Education, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Health which defined evacuation center as any site or center hosting evacuees which includes, but not limited to, schools, covered courts, barangay/community halls, camping areas, collective centers, abandoned houses/buildings, multi-purpose centers and/or established “tent cities.”
It said the design and construction of the questioned multipurpose centers are similar to the DPWH Bureau of Design’s proposed standard for multipurpose or evacuation centers.
It added that each structure can be utilized as temporary shelter for victims of fire or earthquakes or as venue for conducting disaster risk reduction drills and management training.
Provincial officials said the concerned barangays and municipalities may still introduce improvements on the structure to better serve the purposes in an evacuation center.
