Bong Go’s office provides aid to Typhoon Paeng victims in San Pedro, Laguna

Sen. Bong Go vowed to keep pushing for increased government interventions to aid in the recovery of vulnerable sectors and victims of natural disasters.

In a video message during his office's distribution activity in San Pedro City, Laguna on Monday, 7 November, Go said that he has earlier refiled Senate Bill No. 193 or the Mandatory Evacuation Center Act of 2022 as one of his priority measures to address the vulnerability of the Philippines to the impacts of climate change and other natural or human-induced disasters.

"Meron na po akong nai-file sa Senado. Itong mandatory evacuation center. Itong Senate Bill 193. Na-i-file ko po noong July. Alam n'yo, kailangan po natin ng maaayos na evacuation center, malilinis na evacuation center sa mga siyudad, probinsya at munisipyo," said Go.

Under the proposed "Mandatory Evacuation Center Act of 2022", the construction and maintenance of evacuation centers in all localities shall be implemented by a coordinated Department of Public Works and Highways, the local government units concerned, and other line agencies.

The bill also provides the minimum requirements for every evacuation center, including the location, structural or building capacity, and amenities and accessibility.

Aside from the measure, Go shared that he also refiled SBN 188 which seeks to establish a Department of Disaster Resilience, a highly specialized agency that will be tasked with ensuring adaptive, disaster-resilient and safe communities; and SBN 192 which provides for the development of a housing and social protection program that will provide disaster victims better and more affordable access to the formal housing market through the provision of rental subsidies by the government.

The senator's outreach team distributed food packs, shirts and umbrellas for a total of 600 victims at the district office and City Hall of San Pedro. Meanwhile, select individuals also received balls for basketball.