QC councilor wants evacuation centers in each barangay

A Quezon City councilor is batting for the establishment of evacuation areas in the city’s 142 barangays to help prevent unnecessary loss of lives and property during calamities.

District 1 Councilor Dorothy Delarmente, in a proposed resolution she filed before the council, urged the city’s barangay councils to identify and designate evacuation areas in their respective communities as ready relocation places for dislocated residents in times of emergency.

Delarmente, a medical practitioner, said the proposed measure requires the precise implementation of well-prepared disaster contingency plans among the city’s barangay councils, which includes the prevention of stampedes brought about by the sudden dislocation of residents during natural or man-made disasters.

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. organized disaster brigades in the barangays when he assumed office. The brigades are tasked to oversee the safety and protection of residents during calamities.

He also ordered public order and safety department head Manuel Sabalza to prepare a disaster contingency plan for the city.

Sabalza, who is also the city’s assistant administrator for external affairs, was named by Belmonte to chair the city disaster coordinating council. – Perseus Echeminada