By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
Batac City—All public elementary and secondary schools in this city are now also evacuation centers for calamities and disasters.
This was the result of a recent Sangguniang Panlungsod resolution that authorized Batac Mayor Albert D. Chua to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the local Dept. of Education office here. Division supt. Joann A. Corpuz will represent DepEd in the MOA.
Batac councilor Jeremiah C. Nalupta sponsored the resolution is in line with the thrust of the national and local leaderships to mitigate the impact of such foreseen and unforeseen disasters and calamities.
Mr. Nalupta said this is for the city’s preparedness and resilience to minimize, if not eradicate, undue losses such as lives and properties.
The vice chairman of the committee on education therefore, said that the city government should have initiatives and protocols to establish a permanent standby or areas which can become evacuation centers.
He noted that all the public schools in this city are ideal places as evacuation centers in view of their strategic locations, sprawling compounds and immediate availability of basic provisions for lodging, sanitation and basic utilities.
To attain this, the city council approved a resolution for formality by way of MOA between the city government and the city DepEd.
Relative to this, Mr. Chua expressed his agreement with helping the people of Batac specially those located on the low-lying areas’ needs for evacuation.
Mr. Chua said the city government will coordinate with the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) for the proper identification of schools that are suitable sites as evacuation centers.
The city government will also coordinate with the concerned agencies and authorities like the police, firefighters, barangay tanods, and barangay officials to ensure the safety, orderliness and security of school facilities, pupils, students, teachers as well as the evacuees.
Ms. Corpuz, for her part, also welcomes the resolution and promised to continuously monitor the physical facilities and equipment of the schools targeted and identified as evacuation centers are in order whole year round.