CEBU CITY, May 8 (PNA) — Only 20 local government units (LGUs) in Cebu have crafted an emergency evacuation plan in the event of disasters, a Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Cebu report said.
The highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue have also formulated their own evacuation plans.
Among the 50 component municipalities and cities of the province, the municipalities of Alcantara, Alcoy, Aloguinsan, Carmen, Catmon, Consolacion, Daanbantayan, Dumanjug, Liloan, Minglanilla, San Fernando, San Remigio, Santander, Tabogon, Tabuelan, and Tudela, and the cities of Naga, Bogo, and Toledo have come up with evacuation plans.
Another LGU to complete the list of 20 was not yet traced by the agency.
This report was disclosed during a dialogue with non-government organizations Thursday at the Cebu Capitol Social Hall.
The discussion was part of DILG’s program dubbed as “Operation Listo,” which provides a checklist of early preparations for LGUs from the time a tropical cyclone looms until it hits their areas.
Baltazar Tribunalo Jr., the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) chief, explained that evacuation plan is necessary for every LGU so it can devise a way where evacuees would be sheltered away from hazard-prone areas during a disaster.
DILG Cebu provincial director Jerome Gonzales said the completion of the evacuation plans is “a work in progress.”
The DILG has directed LGUs to work on the formulation of such plans the soonest time possible. (PNA)