CLARK FREEPORT – The provincial government has made available this early some P99.2 million funds for measures against anticipated disasters this rainy season in Pampanga, amid an appeal to local government units to pass resolutions on forced evacuations in dangerous areas.
Angie Blanco, head of the Pampanga Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC), said the P99.2 million is now being used in disaster- prone areas for evacuation preparedness, as well as the clearing of channels to mitigate flooding.
The allocation is part of the new government policy allowing local governments to spend 70 percent of their five percent calamity fund allocation for disaster preparedness, she said. This, even as Blanco also said she has urged city and municipal councils to pass soonest their respective resolutions for forced evacuations in areas endangered by flooding and other disasters in Pampanga.
She said such measure would be supported by both police and the military. “That’s a policy initiated by the late Interior and Local Governments Sec. Jesse Robredo, but it is only now that the national government wants it really implemented because threat of natural disasters have become unusual worldwide,” she noted.
Provincial interior and local governments officer Irene Bacani noted studies indicating that the Philippines has been ranked third in a list of 89 countries prone to storm disasters, third in a list of 184 countries being hit by drought, eighth in a list of 162 countries hit by floods, and fourth among 162 countries where landslides are experienced.
Blanco said that with forced evacuation now being pushed in Pampanga, Gov. Lilia Pineda has instructed the preparation of more evacuation centers. “A permanent evacuation center is being rushed in Barangay San Isidro in Magalang town, with funds from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the provincial government, and we are negotiating for another such center in areas owned by the National Housing Authority,” she added.
Blanco also said the Technology and Resource Center (TRC) has allowed the use of its empty buildings in Porac and Floridablanca for evacuees. She reported that several vehicles, including boats, are now on standby for rescue and relief operations, amid assurances from the Land Transportation Office of augmentation during emergencies.
