Ex-solon urges admin to fund permanent evacuation centers law

MANILA, Philippines — Former Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate has asked the current administration to allocate funds for the implementation of Republic Act No. 12076 or the Permanent Evacuation Centers Act, as hundreds of residents may be displaced after the recent strong earthquake near Sarangani province.

In a statement on Wednesday, Zarate lamented that it has been two years since R.A. No. 12076 was passed, but no allocation had been made to facilitate the construction of permanent and disaster-resilient evacuation centers.

READ: PNP: Over 22,900 evacuated due to M7.8 Mindanao earthquake

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Reports from the Philippine National Police showed that over 22,900 individuals have been evacuated after the Magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Mindanao last Monday.

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The Department of Social Welfare and Development said that several evacuees are staying in centers established by local government units (LGUs), but some took refuge with relatives, friends, or host families.

“The law was a measure the progressive Makabayan bloc championed for over a decade.  Now, after two years of inactivity, it needs to be fast-tracked and funded adequately, especially as our people face yet another massive disaster,” Zarate said.

He said he personally witnessed the devastation, and people were afraid to return to their homes, and many are crammed into makeshift, unsafe shelters. “This is precisely the scenario the Permanent Evacuation Centers Law was designed to prevent,” he added.

According to Zarate, covered courts, schools, and other possibly non-resilient structures must not be used as evacuation centers.

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“We have long pushed for this because schools, covered courts, and other non-resilient structures should no longer be used as evacuation centers because they are not safe and do not have enough facilities for our evacuees,” he said in Filipino.

He added that it is important to ensure that these evacuation centers are disaster-resilient and have enough facilities.

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READ: Bayan Muna: Part of DPWH funds should be for safe evacuation centers

This is not the first time that Zarate spoke about putting funds to R.A. No. 12076.  In November 2025, after successive typhoons hit the country, Zarate said a significant portion of the annual Department of Public Works and Highways budget should be allocated to the construction of “disaster-resilient” evacuation centers.

He urged the Marcos administration to ensure the implementation of the law — which the Chief Executive himself signed in December 2024.

Bayan Muna initially pushed for the enactment of this law during the 16th Congress.  Zarate and fellow former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares filed House Bill No. 3648 in Nov. 2014, seeking the establishment of permanent evacuation sites for every two or three contiguous barangays nationwide, to prevent any more catastrophes similar to what Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) brought.

READ: 2 lawmakers propose permanent evacuation sites

The then-proposed measure was filed a year after Yolanda left a trail of destruction over the country, particularly over Eastern Visayas.  Official figures indicated that over 7,000 individuals were either dead or missing after Yolanda struck the country.

Under R.A. No. 12076, several standards have been mentioned to ensure that evacuation centers are strategically located, but at the same time, safe from possible hazards.

Section 4 of the said law states that the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of LGUs has to coordinate with national government agencies — like the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology (Phivolcs) and Seismology, and the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration to determine the appropriate location of the evacuation center.

“The evacuation centers shall be disaster-resilient, constructed with sturdy materials, and designed to withstand wind speeds of at least three hundred kilometers per hour (300 kph) and seismic activity of at least 8.0 magnitude,” Section 4 read.

“The building specifications shall be periodically reviewed and, if necessary, revised and upgraded based on technological advancements and newly identified vulnerabilities,” it added.

Earlier, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said that the death toll due to the earthquake rose to 45, with 487 reported injured, while 17 others are still missing.

Of these, 33 deaths were recorded in the Soccsksargen region (Region 12) and 12 in the Davao Region (Region 11).

Aside from the earthquake, Phivolcs said last Monday that tsunami waves were recorded in several areas, with the highest wave height being measured at 1.4 meters.

Zarate said that while such incidents as earthquakes cannot be avoided, a good way to avoid disasters is through prevention and addressing the root causes of climate-related calamities.

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“We must address the root causes. We need to scrutinize the impacts of mining, logging, and unplanned urban development that worsen these calamities. These evacuation centers, while necessary, should go hand in hand with genuine environmental protection and climate action,” he added. /jpv /dp /atm