Duterte wants ‘simultaneous’ build of strong evacuation centers done before 2022

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday reiterated his plan to build durable evacuation centers in areas vulnerable to natural disasters following the eruption of Taal Volcano in Batangas.

Speaking at the situation briefing with government officials in Batangas City, Duterte ordered a “simultaneous” construction of evacuation centers especially for disaster-prone areas such as Samar, Leyte, Isabela.

“I hope that you can finish it before my term ends. I want projects that are doable and can be finished during my term,” Duterte said.

Duterte had said the evacuation centers should accommodate massive numbers of evacuees where comfort rooms for men and women are segregated.

Duterte, meanwhile, joked that the people in Batangas may have failed to make offerings for Taal.

“Taal is the noisy one. And maybe you have failed to make some offerings there. You should go there and you know say a little prayer and offer something,” Duterte said.

“Let’s go by the primitive way of doing it just like what our forefathers were doing. You make some offerings. It was true then but it might be true now.”

He also said the Philippines was no stranger to volcanic eruptions.

“I was reading some materials last night that there seems to be an eruption of volcanoes around the world. And so we are no exception,” he said.

The country is part of the Ring of Fire, a 40,000-kilometer zone on the edges of the Pacific Ocean along which are arrayed hundreds of active underwater volcanoes. Most of the world's earthquakes occur on the Ring of Fire. —NB, GMA News