Sat | 3.6.2021 | 9:00 AM

PAGCOR Chief of Staff Alberto Regino, Jr. (3rd from left) hands Tapaz Municipal Mayor Roberto Palomar (2nd from right) the mock check representing the agency’s P50 million donation for the construction of a Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center in Barangay Carida. Also in photo are (from left) Casino Filipino Bacolod Acting Branch Manager Jose Marciano Bautista, PAGCOR AVP for Community Relations and Services Ramon Stephen Villaflor and Tapaz Municipal Vice Mayor Ma. Fe Gardose.

PAGCOR Chief of Staff Alberto Regino, Jr. (9th from left) and Tapaz Municipal Mayor Roberto Palomar (8th from left) are assisted by Executive Assistant to the Mayor Milagros Palomar (7th from left) and Tapaz Municipal Vice Mayor Ma. Fe Gardose (7th from left) in laying the time capsule during the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center in Barangay Carida. Joining them in the activity are Casino Filipino Bacolod Acting Branch Manager Jose Marciano Bautista (3rd from right), PAGCOR AVP for Community Relations and Services Ramon Stephen Villaflor (4th from right) and other municipal officials.

TAPAZ, CAPIZ – With its picturesque charm, no one would think that this first-class town in Western Visayas is often visited by violent weather disturbances that leave most of its residents scrambling for help without a safe and comfortable place to stay.

The long wait for an emergency shelter to utilize in times of calamities finally ended for the more than 70,000 residents of the town after the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) funded the construction of the much-needed Multi-Purpose Evacuation Center (MPEC), which broke ground on March 5, 2021 in Barangay Carida.

“It was an answered prayer. God heeded what we’ve been asking for. We may be categorized as a first-class municipality, but we don’t have enough funds to build an emergency facility to house all evacuees from our upland communities each time they need to leave their homes during calamities,” said Tapaz Municipal Mayor Roberto Palomar.

The local chief executive added that the state-of-the-art MPEC to be built in Tapaz will not only help cushion the effects of any future disaster that will hit the town but will also serve as an additional space where they will hold some of their special events and activities.

“This evacuation center will really be very helpful for us in so many ways. The people of Tapaz will treasure this aid from PAGCOR forever,” he stated.

The groundbreaking ceremony of the PAGCOR MPEC in Tapaz was graced by key PAGCOR officials led by the agency’s Chief of Staff Atty. Albert Regino, Jr., Casino Filipino Bacolod Acting Branch Manager Jose Marciano Bautista and Assistant Vice President for Community Relations and Services Ramon Stephen Villaflor.

PAGCOR initially released P25 million to the local government of Tapaz to jumpstart the construction of the evacuation center.

With a budget of P50 million, the two-storey MPEC to be constructed in the town has provision for kitchen area, storage areas for relief goods, toilet and shower rooms for male and female, lactating rooms for nursing mothers, and a spacious badminton-court type area that may be used for sports events and other purposes when it is not being used as an evacuation site.

Apart from the MPEC in Tapaz, Capiz, the state-run gaming firm has also released the first tranche of funding of MPECs for San Andres, Quezon; Romblon; Zamboanga del Sur; Taguidin, Ilocos Sur; Tadian, Mountain Province; Legazpi City and Ligao in Albay; Ocampo, Tigaon, San Jose, and Sagnay in Camarines Sur; and San Fernando and Floridablanca in Pampanga. The agency has allotted a total of P2 billion for the project.

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