ILOILO City – A regional evacuation center may soon rise in this southern city.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) on Tuesday passed a resolution endorsing the plan of the city government to establish a regional evacuation center in Barangay So-oc, Arevalo district.
This intent stemmed from the announcement of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that P36 million was allocated under the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Mayor Jerry Treñas on May 3, 2021 submitted a letter of intent to the SP. This was referred to the committees on social services and disaster relief, and rules, ordinances, resolution, style, justice and legal affairs. A series of committee hearings were conducted.
The SP said there’s a need to establish an evacuation center, citing Iloilo City’s vulnerability to climatic hazards.
There are no alternate or viable evacuation sites with the exclusive ownership of the city government, the SP added.
They further considered the “increasing structural developments” in So-oc in the Comprehensive Urban Drainage Improvement Program.
In his endorsement, Treñas assured that appropriate engineering intervention measures are implemented with continuous monitoring by the DPWH./PN