By
Dino Balabo
MALOLOS
CITY—Worried about floods, Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado bats for climate
proofing of schools in the province to serve as functional evacuation centers
during floods.
He
also asked the sangguniang panlalawigan to ratify an ordinance for the creation
of permanent evacuation centers in flood-prone towns and cities in the
province.
Alvarado’s
call came after the province suffered floods after the onslaught of typhoons
Pedring and Quiel in 2011 and the southwest monsoon rains last year.
“This
is very timely, we found out that our functional evacuation centers were also
submerged in recent floods,” the governor said in an interview after delivering
his first state of the province address in three years.
He
said that public schools along with churches served as functional evacuation
centers during the flood, but many were submerged and were not utilized.
The
governor said that while the Department of Education (DepEd) is completing
their counterpart in constructing half of the more than 1,800 classrooms in the
province, the Department must make sure that it will not be easily submerged.
The
governor also asked the sangguniang panlalawigan to pass an ordinance that will
serve as basis for construction of permanent evacuation centers in flood-prone
towns in the province such as Hagonoy, Calumpit,Paombong, Guiguinto, Obando,
Bocaue, Marilao, Bulakan, and the cities of Malolos and Meycauayan.
As
an example, he said that the grounds of Hagonoy West Central School in Barangay
Sto. Rosario in Hagonoy town will be elevated to at least one meter above the
road.
The
campus of the said school used to go under water during high tide, and during
floods.
“There
must be a dry area where people can evacuate during flood events,” he said and
stressed that to provide that, school facilities must be climate proofed when
undergoing rehabilitation.
With
regards to funding of permanent evacuation centers, the governor said that they
will coordinate with local mayors for counterpart funding.
As
this developed, he also urged the sangguniang panlalawigan to pass a resolution
asking the national government to establish the first National Dam Safety
Board, and the revival of the Pampanga River Control System (PRCS) which is
tasked to manage river systems in Central Luzon.
The
call for the national dam safety board is a parallel move of the provincial
government to the proposed National Dam Safety Law authored by Rep. Marivic
Alvarado of the first congressional district of the province.
