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On April 14 and 15 2023, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation opened newly constructed emergency shelters in 2 municipalities.
PAGCor has unveiled a multi-purpose emergency center (MPEC), worth P50million, in Barangay Caflora, San Andres, the town that is located far away. This area, for many years, was without shelters to accommodate families and individuals affected by disasters.
A multi-purpose basketball court evacuation structure, worth P12.7m, was also inaugurated by the state-run gaming company in a small town of Plaridel. The facility will address the town’s need for a permanent location to accommodate residents during emergencies.
The new evacuation structure will be located in Barangay Tanahuan in the mountainous community. It will offer a large space for residents of the nine villages of Plaridel to evacuate in case of disaster.
San Andres, Plaridel and other coastal towns are often affected by extreme weather conditions such as severe flooding and storm surge.
San Andres Municipal mayor Ralph Edward Lim thanked PAGCor, for helping to ensure the safety of constituents, at the inauguration ceremony of the two-story evacuating facility in Barangay Caflora.
“I’m lucky that our country was not hit by a major disaster during my term,” Lim said. “But our citizens have been even luckier, because before it was time for them evacuate, PAGCor had already built a beautiful building for them.
Raul Endonila is the Barangay Chairperson of Camflora in San Andres. He also said that he has seen how his over 8, 000 constituents have struggled with severe natural disasters. The village chief said that Camflora, San Andres has suffered from calamities for years.
Endonila stated that “our situation has been difficult for a long time because there are not enough accommodations for residents to seek shelter when there is a danger of strong typhoons threatening our province.” Now, they can go to a beautiful and neat building when they are worried about their safety.
Rodenel Vera Cruz of Plaridel Municipality’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department expressed his relief at the fact that locals will no longer be forced to stay in cramped buildings when they have to evacuate.
Vera Cruz said that it is now common practice for people to evacuate when there are strong typhoons or severe flooding. They can’t stand the inconvenience of having to cram into schools and barangays when they need to evacuate. PAGCor’s permanent evacuation site is an enormous help to our small town.
A total of 26 MPECs are currently being built in the United States. Another 51 are under construction.
