Crowded basketball courts are out, at least for the residents of Marikina, Makati and Taguig City. Marikina resident Jaspher Justo shared a photo of their evacuation center in Barangay Malanday in Marikina City, saying that their taxes are well spent.
Justo told The Filipino Times that the modular tents were installed near the areas that are easily flooded. He said this is the first time he had seen such tents in evacuation centers where he used to volunteer.
(Photo taken from Facebook page Miriam Santiago Lines)
“Nakaka taba po ng puso dahil nung nakita po nila yung post ko sa iba’t ibang group/page ay natuwa sila dahil may privacy nga naman kapag nasa Modular Tent po ang mga evacuees,” Justo said.
Using the clean and organized tents, evacuees no longer have to sleep on banig and cardboards.
“Hindi lang privacy ang tulong ng tent dahil kung merong sakit ang isa sa miyembro ng pamilya, hindi po makakahawa sa iba at yung mga gamit po safe siya dahil pwede ilagay sa loob ang mahahalagang gamit,” added Justo.
A single tent can fit 8 to 12 people inside. The government provides one tent per family but smaller families can share one tent.
Meanwhile, netizens are commending the local government for their effort to improve their service to the residents.
“Though biktima na nga ng kalamidad, hindi sila mukhang kaawa-awa lalo. Good job sa local government!” wrote one comment
“Tumanda na kami sa baha, hindi kami nalipat gawa ng siksikan sa gym at banig lang binibigay na higaan eh,” shared another.
Some netizens also noticed how the tents do not have the faces and names of the officials, a practice that was usually done in previous relief operations.
It was six years ago when the idea of separate tents in Japan made the rounds on Facebook. The photo of a crowded basketball court in the Philippines was put side by side with the orderly tents in Japan.
Meanwhile, another netizen named Maita San Miguel shared a compilation of the evacuation centers in the cities of Makati, Marikina and Taguig, saying that step-up of the local government units (LGUs) should be the new social media challenge.
“Beshie kamusta naman ang Evacuation Center niyo? Nag level up na ba?” she captioned it using the hashtag #evacuationcenterchallenge
Apart from the new tents, Justo added that portalets and lifeboats are prepared by their city; basic needs such as water, medicine and food were also distributed among them. He remains hopeful that their system will be an example to other cities.
