Catarman, Northern Samar gets its first evacuation facility

As part of its efforts to mitigate the loss of lives in disaster-prone areas, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation inaugurated on 10 November 2023 its first multi-purpose evacuation facility in Catarman, Northern Samar.

The two-story building, costing P50 million, is the biggest evacuation structure to be built in Catarman's Barangay Polangi, which usually has one of the highest numbers of displaced families whenever natural disasters strike.

Catarman Mayor Francisco Aurelio E. Rosales III expressed his appreciation for the new facility, saying, "PAGCOR's evacuation center is an example of how a national government project trickles down to local communities to benefit our entire population. I hope that we can continue to strengthen our partnership with PAGCOR."

The lack of evacuation facilities in the municipality is one of the major challenges of the local government unit when it comes to disaster response, said Catarman Municipal Risk Reduction Officer Emerald Guevarra.

"We have 55 barangays, but we only have 10 designated evacuation centers, and most of them are schools, chapels and other private establishments. These are not enough because of Catarman's huge population," she explained.

Guevarra noted that global warming has made disaster response more challenging for the LGU with each passing year.

"Mas matindi yung nararanasan naming weather disturbances. Minsan kahit walang bagyo, basta sunod-sunod ang ulan, umaabot hanggang bubong ng bahay ang baha (The weather disturbances we've been experiencing have become more intense. Sometimes, even without typhoons, incessant rain can lead to floods up to our roofs). Add to that the fact that our town is situated in the country's typhoon belt," she said.

Thus, one of the priorities of the Catarman LGU is the construction of safe shelters where people could stay during disasters, but lack of funding has stalled such efforts.

"This PAGCOR-funded evacuation center here in Barangay Polangi is really a game-changer when it comes to the risk mitigation efforts of the Catarman LGU," Guevarra said. "Now we can cater to a larger population; hindi na din kami mahihirapan dahil may maio-offer na kaming safe at komportableng evacuation facility" (We won't have a hard time because we have a safe and comfortable evacuation facility to offer).

Aside from the Catarman project, two-story evacuation facilities are also being constructed in the towns of Maslog and Borongan in Eastern Samar, with P50-million funding each from PAGCOR.

To date, 36 PAGCOR evacuation facilities have been completed in various parts of the country, while 36 are still under construction.