Duterte calls on Congress to allocate more funds for evacuation centers

PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. Duterte on Monday called on Congress to allocate more money to build evacuation centers in disaster-prone areas. “I’m urging Congress, sa lahat ng (in all) prone areas of disaster…. magkaroon na ng evacuation center na malalaki (to have evacuation centers that are large),” he said in his speech before evacuees in Sto. Tomas, Batangas who have been displaced due to the Taal Volcano eruption. Thousands of families have been evacuated from the 14-kilometer danger zone around the volcano, which started spewing ash on January 12. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has since declared an alert level 4, which means a possible hazardous eruption could happen within hours or days. Mr. Duterte assured the affected population that government has enough funds for the relief and recovery operations, adding that he will expedite the release of a P30-billion fund. — Gillian M. Cortez