SENATOR Ralph Recto has proposed the construction of disaster-resilient gyms that can serve as refuge for people displaced by man-made or natural catastrophes.
Recto proposed the "quake-, flood-, and typhoon-proof" gyms to be built in all of the country's 1,490 towns and big barangays in 144 cities.
He said he made the proposal to ensure that classes will not be disrupted when public schools are used as evacuation centers during calamities.
"When classrooms become the default evacuation areas, it creates another class of evacuees – students, whose schooling is disrupted," Recto said, noting that disasters displace two kinds of people: those who are directly hit and the children who, though unharmed, have to temporarily give up their classrooms to evacuees," the senator added.
In any calamity, Recto said students are the "collateral damage" as schools serve as temporary shelters of fire victims or whose houses easily swamped.
The senator noted that even in conflict areas, those displaced by fighting were lodged in schools and if scuffle lasts for weeks, students go on early or unscheduled vacation.
"Although it will be totally impossible to firewalls schools from the misfortune of the communities where they’re located, there are schemes that will prevent schools from being the only available hostel for the unfortunate," Recto said, stressing the establishment of a network of disaster-proof gyms nationwide.
Recto said he envisioned a multi-purpose civic center, which can be the venue for events on ordinary days and can also be an evacuation site when calamity strikes.
He said it would be more practical to build a gym than dormitories, which cannot be used if there is no calamity.
He added that building new gyms is cheaper than retrofitting existing ones.
The proposed gym, Recto said, can be the place where disaster-rescue equipment, and emergency supplies are stored and can be the rallying point for emergency rescue personnel.
"The gym will not only be used for disaster, but also for sports purposes. Meaning, it can be used as sports tournaments or for programs, seminars, or assemblies if there is no calamity," he said.
Recto said such a structure will hit two-birds with one stone by addressing the shortage of covered sports facilities in municipalities and the need for a safe building people can seek shelter in during a calamity.
"The ideal is to have a one-gym-per town program. If it will be for disaster resilience, its design must include provisions for water, toilets, as sanitation is one problem during disaster evacuations," he added.
To fund this, Recto urged Malacañang to pilot the building of these through an appropriation in the 2016 P3-trillion national budget.
"If there is P3-trillion budget next year, they may allot some fund for the construction of even some prototype. (The government) should look at it as disaster-mitigation spending," he said.
A parade of cyclone from 2004 to 2014 left 14,150 dead, 46,491 injured, 4,169 missing and damaged 4.5 million housed and destroyed P388 billion worth of property.
From 2010 to 2013, the recorded 40,696 fire incidents claimed 990 lives, injured 2,847 and destroyed P27.1 billion worth of property.
"We are the second most disaster-prone country in the world. Mass evacuation is a predictable event in this country. Yet, against this certainty, we respond in an ad hoc manner by sequestering schools as temporary shelter when we can have a better go-to place during emergencies," Recto said. (Sunnex)